Watching
by Leiria
Summary: She's watched him for almost seven years. She knows they're related but he has no idea who she is. She's tired of watching though. What happens when she steps into his life? Pro Voldemort, AR, Rated M for content
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

**AN: This is an old fanfic of mine published on another HP fanfic site. I seem to have gotten a wild hair up my ass and I'm re-writing it. This should be fun... ^_^ btw...this fic is AU, it's told from an OC's point of view, and it's pro-Voldie. It's also changed A LOT from its original version so if you decide to go read that at the other site, go to my profile for a link to my author page on that website. You're going to see the story take two VERY different directions.**

**Watching**

Chapter 1

I wonder through the school at night because I can't sleep. Wearing dark clothes always helps me blend in, but having black hair I can hide behind makes me almost invisible. I've never been caught, not even by the caretaker's stupid cat. I came to school knowing more dark magic than most people learn in their entire lives. In our sixth year, I was branded, Marked. Selected as one of His chosen. I took my position in his ranks with pride and enjoyed the terror I caused in some of the weaker students. Having the father I'd been blessed with was only part of the fear I was able to entice.

Most nights I wondered around aimlessly, having no purpose or destination in mind. Other nights, he was out of bed after curfew and I followed him. I knew about most of his adventures the same way most of the students knew. Rumor surrounded the Boy Who Lived. Mystery. I was a part of his mystery. The genetic link we shared was unexplainable. Only two people alive knew who my mother was. How he could be only months younger than me and have the same mother was completely beyond me. It was something I wanted to figure out. Something I needed to know.

I followed him because he was heading out to the grounds. The moon was nearly full and the night was crisp. Early spring will do that. March had come in like a lion, roaring with thunder and lightning. The rain hadn't stopped more than an hour ago and the grass was muddy.

I followed his cloaked form to the forest. He often went to the same meadow when he wanted to be alone at night. None of the teachers ever came out this way. I didn't blame him for wanting to be alone. They'd brought him back to Hogwarts very much against his will.

He stopped walking when he reached his meadow. He looked up at the moon above the clearing and I wondered what he was like. I was probably the only Death Eater in the world who wanted to know Harry Potter instead of deliver him. Having never gotten the chance to know what he was like growing up, I wanted to know what he was like before he was killed. It was a question I know will haunt me if I don't make the attempt before the Dark Lord kills him.

I stepped on a twig, probably unconsciously on purpose. It snapped loudly and he looked in my direction, having not noticed that he was being followed. Discovered, I stepped into the clearing. The moon fell down on me and I raised my head to shake my hair out of my face. His wand was out, pointed at me. Wordlessly, he lit the tip and I was bathed in harsh light. I blinked and shielded my eyes.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked.

I chuckled. "Good question," I said. "I could ask the same of you."

"Who are you?" he asked, knowing that I wasn't going to give him an answer.

I shrugged. "Does it matter?" I asked, knowing that if he knew who I was it really would matter. "I suppose that's not a question you get asked very often, though is it?" I asked.

He shook his head and lowered his wand so that it wasn't shining directly in my eyes. While I appreciated that, it was a stupid move on his part. "I guess not," he said.

"You really shouldn't lower your wand around someone you don't know," I said. "We live in a war and you never know who the bad guys are."

"Are you trying to tell me that you're one of the bad guys?" he asked.

I chuckled. "Good and bad is a matter of opinion," I said. "You would consider me one of the bad guys."

He raised his wand again and I held my hands up. "Relax, Wonder Boy," I said. "I don't want to hurt you or capture you or kill you. I just want to know you."

I saw the suspicion in his eyes. Eyes that were identical to mine. "Why?" he asked.

I smiled. "Because you and I have something in common that no one else has," I said. I tapped my face next to my eyes, drawing his attention there. He blinked in surprise. "Who _are_ you?" he asked. Now the question was important.

I held out my hand. "Athena Snape," I said.

He almost dropped his wand. "Snape?" he asked.

I nodded. "I'll bet you never knew that your most hated professor had a kid," I said.

"But...your eyes..."

"Are just like yours minus the vision problem," I said with a nod. "I know. Two guesses how."

He shook his head. "You can't be," he said. He knew. The ugly truth was staring him in the face and suddenly that truth wanted to run back to the safety of the shadows and stone walls of the dungeons.

"I am," I said softly.

"My...sister?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yes," I said.

He stared at me in shock. It was nice to know that the thickness of his skull could be penetrated by disturbing truths. After a moment I sighed and turned away from him. "Wait," he said. I looked over my shoulder at him. "Why?"

"Why what?" I asked.

He sighed. "Why did you tell me?" he asked.

I smiled. "I didn't," I said. "You figured that bit out on your own. I told you, I just want to know you. One of us is going to die in this war, Harry. We're on opposing sides. Odds are I'll be the only Death Eater who actually mourns you if it's you."

"You think there's a chance I can win against _him?_" he asked, trowing his arm in some random direction to indicate where the Dark Lord was. I wonder how he got the direction right.

I sighed and turned back around. "Why wouldn't you?" I asked. "Whatever our mother did you the night she saved you gave you the tools to win this war."

"I wish I could be as sure as you are," Harry nearly whispered.

I chuckled. "I'm on the side that wants you to lose, remember?" I asked. "Some of them would probably be happy if you joined us though."

"How could I join him?" Harry nearly yelled. "He killed my parents!"

"She was my mother too!" I snapped. "She was a fucking _Death Eater!_ She wanted _him_ to win!"

"SHE WAS NOT!" Harry shouted.

Lightning fast, my wand was at his throat. "She was a Death Eater and if you don't believe me why don't you go and ask my father," I said darkly. "She was as loyal as Bellatrix and one of his closest people. She was as cruel and merciless as she was kind and loving. She killed more people than I can count and she _enjoyed_ it. She was _ordered_ to have you. She was _ordered _to allow the Dark Lord to kill you. The only thing I don't understand is how you are three months younger than I am."

Harry shoved me away from him hard enough we both stumbled. "Stay away from me," he said with a rough voice.

I glared. "Gladly," I snapped before I turned and walked back to the castle, brushing away unwanted tears as I went.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I finally stopped walking as I neared the Slytherin common room. I sighed as I leaned against a wall and held my head in my hands. I slowly slid down the wall until I was sitting, thankful for the dark shadows the dungeon provided. I didn't want to see anyone or say anything.

I curled up next to the base of a statue and rest my head against the hard granite. Wrapping my arms around my knees, I wondered if, perhaps, I had said too much.

I jumped when Draco knelt next to me and cracked my head on the statue's robe. I let out a string of curses before I glared at my blonde companion. "What?" I growled.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Potter," I mumbled, rubbing my head. Draco stood and held out his hands to me. I sighed before I let him help me stand and my heart raced as his grip lingered a little longer than necessary. "I told him."

Draco met my eyes before he reached up and brushed something wet off of my cheek. I caught his hand as he pulled away from me. "How many more cuts are there going to be on your arm?" he softly asked.

I sighed and pulled away from him. "Why do you care so much?" I asked, knowing the truth and the reasons and unable to decide if it was something I wanted to be a part of even though my heart raced every time he was near me.

Draco was the _only_ person my father would even consider letting me date. He kept me on such a short leash and was so protective that he had actually threatened the last three people who had asked him if they could take me out with death or dismemberment should they even try it.

"Why do I care?" Draco asked softly. With my hand still on his wrist, he cupped my cheek in his, thumb brushing away another tear. "Do you really have to ask me that?" he softly whispered.

I closed my eyes, wishing for a kiss and lost in the feel of his hand on my face. My hand tightened around his wrist and he sighed as he took his hand away. I opened my eyes and looked at him.

Draco gave me a small smile before he pulled his hand away from mine. "Your father would probably kill me for what I want to do right now," he said softly.

"Haven't you understood yet that you're the _only_ one my father _won't_ kill for that?" I asked softly.

Draco's eyes widened a fraction. "Really?" he asked.

I nodded. "Really," I said. I sighed. "Do you remember the Yule Ball?" I asked.

Draco rolled his eyes and nodded. "Of course I do," he muttered. "Parkinson pawing every inch she could reach, me finally getting sick of it and threatening to curse her if she didn't stop, then me leaving the ball to find you alone in the common room."

I nodded. "My father told me that the only way I could go was either alone or with you," I said softly. "You had already asked Parkinson."

"Had I known I could ask you, I would have."

"You didn't even try," I muttered, shaking my head. I tried to walk away but Draco pulled me back. I met his eyes and saw the determination he had for what he was about to do. He pushed me up against the wall and stood so close that I could feel his breath on my face.

"Didn't try?" he demanded. "You think I didn't try? I asked your father _four times _if I could take you and _every _time I did, he refused to give me an answer. I finally gave up." He brushed some of my hair behind my ear and kept his hand on my neck. "Any man in our house would kill to have the chance to be with you," he said, his hand slowly moving down to my chest. My heart sped up and I felt my face flush. "To touch you..." He moved his face close to mine. "Kiss you," he whispered against my lips. "Fuck you," he said, gripping my breast in his hand as he ground his hips against mine. A moan escaped me that I was powerless to hold back.

He took his hand away from my chest while his other pulled my knee up to his hip. I was still in my uniform and the skirt came up to my hip on the leg he pulled up. I felt him push against me and became very dizzy. Pixies had taken flight in my stomach.

It was only then that Draco kissed me. His mouth was like fire and I wanted that fire. I needed that spark of life. I opened my mouth and his tongue slipped through my lips. I could taste the cigarette he'd had earlier and the pumpkin juice he drank with dinner. He won the battle for dominance and pressed me against the wall.

I felt his hand slip under my shirt and slowly slide up. I cried out when his hand pushed my bra up and he ran his thumb over my nipple. He bit at my neck, raked his nails down my leg, and ground his hips against me.

"I'd take you here and now if I thought I could get away with it," he whispered in my ear. He fixed my bra and let my leg down. "But your father would know and I'm rather attached to my dick so I'm not going to test it."

He started to step back and I grabbed his hand. I've tasted blood and I want more. "No one ever said you couldn't use your hand," I said placing his hand between my thighs. Draco smirked and kissed my cheek. "In the corridor?" he asked.

"Why not?" I asked as he moved his hand closer to my apex. "Live on the dangerous side," I said.

He chuckled and cupped me with his hand. "Anything with you is dangerous," he said before he kissed me again. "What do I get out of this?" Draco whispered in my ear, his fingers moving back and fourth over my underwear. "I get you off and I'm left hard, aching for some sort of release..." I moaned from what he was doing with his hand. "Are you going to repeat the favor?" he asked.

I met his eyes, struggling to focus. "I thought you said you were attached to your dick," I panted.

"I am," Draco said, kissing my neck again. "But I don't want to go unsatisfied." He removed his hand and smelled his fingers. He smirked and looked at me again. "You smell like a dream," he whispered.

I brought his hand to my mouth and sucked on his index finger. He made a guttural sound as I sucked on his middle finger. I brought his hand back down between my thighs. I pushed my underwear aside and guided his fingers in, gasping as he touched what no man had ever touched.

He kissed my cheek. "I expect the favor returned," he whispered as he moved his fingers in and out. I nodded and he kissed me with a bruising force. The moans and whimpers forcing their way out of me were completely foreign sounds. I cried out as Draco found a particularly sensitive spot. He focused on it, sending shock-waves of pleasure through me. My body tensed up, I could feel my walls constricting around his fingers. His thumb rubbed at a different spot I almost fell. Draco wrapped an arm around my back. I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, burying my face in them. As if on its own, my body moved against his hand, quickening the pace.

I felt every muscle in my body constrict as a tingling sensation exploded and spread through me. I couldn't breathe passed the feeling and every movement of Draco's hand seemed to prolong and intensify it.

When I could breathe again, it was ragged and caught in my throat. Draco took his hand away and held me tightly. Without him, I would have fallen. Of course, without him, I wouldn't be so weak-kneed either.

Draco loosened his hold and met my eyes before he kissed me. "Don't ever say I didn't try," he said softly, kissing me gently. "I would find a way to fly to the moon if it meant I could be with you."  
I could have cried again. I kissed him and wrapped my arms around his neck again. "I love you," I whispered.

Draco held me tighter for a moment. "I love you," he whispered. "I always have."

"I want to be able to be with you," I whispered. "In every way without having to worry about my father."

"I want that too," Draco said. "But I think I rather fancy a cold shower at the moment..."

I pulled back. "You don't want me to...?" I half asked.

Draco shook his head. "Your father would castrate me for thinking it," he said softly. "Like I said, I'm rather attached to the thing so I think I'll suffer through the blue balls than the loss of all of it." He reached up and tucked some of my hair behind my ear again. "Otherwise, I'll never get to be with you..."

I smiled and kissed him. "We should probably get back then..." I said softly.

Draco nodded. "That would be best," he agreed.

**AN: Just a quick one. I realized I should probably throw this out there for those who are actually reading... Disregard the last two books! The original version of this story was written between OotP and HBP. In that verse, there was no HBP or DH. In this one, I'm taking elements of those two books and incorporating them into the story. It's 7th year, Harry was brought back against his will by Dumbledore who is keeping a VERY close eye on him (so close that it's part of the reasons behind what Harry does in later chapters). I guess this story falls more into AR than AU. The plot will thicken and develop soon, I promise. Beginnings tend to be slow...**

**So I guess this was a bit longer than I had intended, but I hope it made some things make sense. Don't forget to review! ^_^**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I lay in my bed, hours after returning to the dormitory. My thoughts were recorded into my journal nightly. My father had me start keeping one as soon as I could write. Most of my thoughts were about my mother and Potter, about Draco and how much I wanted to be with him, about the cruelty of the world and how I fit so perfectly with it...

I lazily flipped through the pages and found an older entry. It was when I found out that my mother had left us because of the Dark Lord. My father told me the story only once. I wrote it down that night and read it often so that I would not forget. I was nearly four months old when Harry was born. I had so little time with her and he had a full year... Had she loved us? Had she missed us? Had she protested her mission at all?

I sighed as I rest my head against the wall behind me. I closed my eyes and willed the answers to come to me. I couldn't speak with the dead. My mother wasn't a ghost. I had no way to find the answers. No hope of knowing if my mother loved me. She chose Harry. I was second. I had come first but I took second place...

I heard rustling coming from my two dorm mates and decided that if I was going to have a shot at the shower before they got up it, I'd have to get in now. It was nearing five o'clock. Yet another night with no sleep.

I closed my journal, tapped it with my wand and put it back under my pillow before I got out of bed and went to my trunk. I pulled out new clothes and went to the loo. A few minutes later, I was standing in the shower, letting the scalding hot water run over me. I could still feel an echo of Draco's hands, ghosting across my body. The memory of it made me shiver. I finished my shower quickly and surfaced from the bathroom dressed in my uniform. I made my way back to my trunk and pulled out my boots and fishnets. I did everything I could to make myself more me without completely breaking the uniform policy. Fishnets and boots that came up to mid-calf were the best I could do.

As I cinched the last buckle on my second boot, Parkinson's curtains were pulled open and she yawned as she stood up. She glanced at me before she went to the loo. A few minutes later I heard the shower come on. Unlike me, she never took her clothes in with her. I knew that in twenty minutes she would be coming out of the bathroom in her birthday suit. She thought she was the best looking woman in the whole school, despite her pug-like face. I always thought she was rather plain. Then again, I never really cared what other women looked like.

I made my way up to breakfast and saw that Draco was already sitting at the table, a bowl of oatmeal in front of him and coffee in a mug in his hands. I sat next to him and fixed my own cup of coffee. I sat for a minute, simply breathing the smell of the coffee, before I sipped it slowly.

"Did you sleep at all?" Draco asked.

I shook my head. "Not a wink," I sighed. "You?"

He chuckled deeply. The sound was music to my ears. "No," he said. "Not with thoughts of you after last night," he said, reaching up to tuck some hair behind my ear.

* * *

A month passed. Draco and I couldn't seem to get a word in with my father about whether or not he would agree to our relationship so we kept it in the dark from everyone. I was getting tired of the secrecy and decided to take matters into my own hands. I walked down to my father's chambers and knocked on the door. He answered a moment later and seemed surprised to see me standing on the other side.

"Athena," he said as he opened the door. "What a surprise."

I chuckled bitterly as I stepped in. My father may be overprotective of me, but that didn't mean we had the closest of relationships. I turned toward him as he shut the door.

"What brings you here?" he asked.

"Draco," I said simply.

My father's eyes narrowed. Sometimes I wished I had his eyes. Most of the time, I prided my Slytherin green. "What about him?"

"I want to date him," I said simply. "I'm seventeen years old, I've loved him since I was eight, and he recently told me that he's been trying to get you to give him an answer for years. I'm not leaving until I have one." I hesitated before I added the next part: "Preferably an affirmative one."

My father sighed. "I don't suppose saying no would stop you," he said.

I shook my head. "Nope," I said. "Not this time."

He sighed. "Fine," he said. "No sex."

I laughed. "How do you know it's not too late for that?" I asked. It wasn't, not yet, not _technically._

He raised an eyebrow. "Don't push me," he said. "I was seventeen once as well," he reminded me. And if it is too late, you're swallowing Veritaserum and I will castrate the man who slept with you."

I chuckled. "Don't worry," I said. "It's not too late."

My father crossed his arms in front of his chest, eyeing me closely. "How long have you and Draco been dating behind my back?" he asked.

I chuckled. "A month," I said. "Right after I spoke to Harry Potter."

He stared at me in shock. "You spoke to... What did you say to him?" he snapped.

I sighed. "He figured out that we're related," I said softly.

My father swore. "You were told..."

"I didn't tell him!" I cried. "You told me I couldn't tell him, not that I couldn't approach him. _He _figured it out. We have the same eyes, remember?" I demanded. "It's pretty fucking hard not to know who my mother was!"

"Do _not_ say another word about your mother!" my father nearly yelled.

"WHY NOT?" I screamed, throwing my arms wide. "Is it really such a crime to want to know the truth?" I demanded. "What the hell happened that made her leave us?"

He sighed heavily. "You know why she left us," he whispered.

"You said she was given a mission," I said. "You never said more than that."

"The winter before you and Harry were born, I was spying on Dumbledore as he interviewed Trelawney for the Divination position," he said in a rough voice, walking over to the bar in his common room and pouring two drinks. He handed one to me as I walked over to him. I smelled it before I drank it. The Firewiskey burned my throat going down and I made a face before we moved to the leather sofa.

"Trelawney went into a trance and the prophecy came out. I heard the beginning half of it before the barkeeper found me and kicked me out. When I went to the Dark Lord with the information, he turned to Lily and told her that he wanted her to be the woman to give birth to this Marked Man. He said that he wanted to be able to find the child without difficulty. When asked how she was going to be able to manage it, the Dark Lord told her to use a time turner. She was told to go back when he gave the word. He waited six months after you were born before he sent her back to our seventh year here. Lily married Potter and had Harry. A year later she refused to stand aside and the Dark Lord killed her. She knew he would..."

"So it was a time turner?" I asked. "That's how he's three months younger than me?"

My father nodded. "Yes," he said. "She was perfect at it. No one ever thought that there were two Lilys running around. I remember hearing about her marrying Potter shortly after we were married and she couldn't tell me what was going on. One night, she visited me and told me everything..."

I brushed a tear from my cheek. "She loved us, right?" I asked, taking a large gulp of my Firewiskey.

My father nodded and drained his cup. "Yes," he said with a rough voice.

"Then why did she die?" I asked.

He sighed. "Because of Harry," he said softly. "Because there's more to him than meets the eyes..."

"Like what?" I asked. "Everything he is is on his sleeve, bared to the world," I said. "All that chivalry knighthood shit. What else is there that has yet to be seen?" I asked.

My father shook his head. "I can't tell you that," he said softly. "You should go back to your common room," he said, getting up and pouring himself another drink. I drained mine and put it down on the table in front of the sofa.

"I suppose you want me married before I go find someone to sleep with," I said as I stood. My father turned to face me with a look of shock on his face. "Just asking," I said.

He nodded. "I would prefer you wait until you're married," he agreed. "If you think you can keep Malfoy at bay for that long."

I chuckled. "How long do you think I'll be before I'm married?" I asked. "Thirty?"

He smirked. "A father can hope," he said.

I shook my head. "You should know better," I said. "I'm old enough to kill, shouldn't I be old enough to shag too?"

He nearly dropped his glass. "Do you have to talk about this?" he demanded, setting the glass down. He walked up to me and held my face in his hands. "You are my _daughter_, Athena," he said. "I don't want to know if you're shagging someone. I will personally castrate the man who does it first and I find out about it before you're married. Now that I know you're dating Malfoy, he will be my first target unless you two have plans to be married. _That,_ I pray, is still a few years off."

"What if it wasn't?" I asked. "What if Draco asks me to marry him before the end of the term?"

My father sighed and kissed my forehead. "Then I will give him my blessing because I know you love him but I won't be happy about it. Fathers don't have a place in their daughters lives once they're married," he said softly.

I met my father's black eyes. "You'll always have a place in my life, Dad," I said, hugging him. "Please don't castrate my boyfriend."

He chuckled. "I'll try," he promised.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As I made my way back to the Slytherin common room, the underside of my left forearm began to burn. I closed my eyes and stopped walking, holding my arm in a tight grip. It wasn't often we felt the summons, as students.

Around the corner, I heard someone hiss in pain and I wondered if it was one of the other Death Eaters in the castle. There were more of us than Dumbledore could ever imagine.

"What is it, Harry?" a woman asked. My eyes snapped open and I made my way to the wall so they wouldn't see me, blending into the shadows and disappearing. "Is it your scar?"

"It's Voldemort..." Harry muttered. My blood boiled at hearing him say the Dark Lord's name. Filthy half-blood... "He wants something..." My attention was piqued. Did he really have _that _kind of connection to my Master? "He has a plan on how to get it now..."

They turned the corner at the same time my father did. The four of them froze and I could see that my father was itching to take points away. Instead, he simply walked passed them. Confused, I moved to follow.

"Athena?" Potter asked.

I sighed, wishing that I hadn't jumped out of the shadows like I did. "What?" I growled.

"Is this..." the Mudblood asked, looking at my brother. "Your sister?"

Harry nodded. "Can't you tell?" he asked bitterly. "The family resemblance is quite striking. Especially the eyes."

"Right," I said sharply. "Can I go now?" I asked.

"Off to find out what _daddy's_ up to?" Potter spat.

I wanted to hit him. "Shut up about my father!" I snapped. "If you knew even _half_ of the truth, you wouldn't _dare_ talk about him like that."

"You say the truth but what comes out of your mouth are lies," my dear brother spat. "My mother was _not_ a Death Eater."

My hands clenched into fists at my side. "No," I spat. "_Your_ mother abandoned her family. Left a three-month old child behind so that she could spend the last year of her life with a man she never loved and a son she never wanted. _Your_ mother decided that instead of sacrificing you like she was supposed to, she would sacrifice herself instead so that she wouldn't have to deal with people looking at her like she was a traitor. _Your_ mother was a coward. _My_ mother was heartless."

Harry moved to hit me. I blocked the punch he threw and twisted his arm back, my wand at his neck for the second time in our lives.

The Mudblood and Traitor had their wands pointed at me within a second of me grabbing Harry. "I am not afraid to kill you," I said to the three of them. "Or to die." I smirked. "Besides, neither of you two have a clear shot," I said. "You could curse Golden Boy here."

"Lower your wands," Harry said to his friends. They hesitated and Harry glared at them. "Drop them!" he said. "She's not going to kill me."

"You sure about that, Potter?" I asked, shoving my wand into his neck until he let out a sound of pain. "Why don't we find out which one of us is better? You with your defense or me with my Dark Arts. It could be fun."

"You can't kill me," Harry said. "Voldemort wants to do it himself."

"Right you are, Little Brother," I said, kissing his cheek. "Right you are. Wouldn't want to piss of the Dark Lord...he's a mean old bastard when he's angry. Of course, if it was an _accident_ I think I might be forgiven. Then again, you could always just accept the truth. I'm sure he wouldn't mind having you on our side. He's mentioned a few times that since he can't seem to beat you it would be great if you bowed to him."

"Why would I?" Harry asked.

I chuckled. "Haven't you realized how many lies they've told you?" I asked. "Haven't you realized what you are? Even I can see it... Your connection to the Dark Lord... It's like you have your very own Dark Mark already," I said, using my wandless hand to trace his scar. I shoved him away from me, making him stumble into the Mudblood and Traitor. The Mudblood caught him before they all fell and righted him. Harry straightened his robes and glared at me. "Stay the hell away from me," he spat before the three of them walked off.

I chuckled. "Gladly," I said before I made my way back to my common room. I arrived just in time to see my father leading Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle out of it.

"There you are," my father said.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"You and Malfoy are joining me for a weekend potions convention in Leeds," he said, walking up to me and grabbing my arm. "Crabbe and Goyle are coming along as muscle."

"We're actually going?" I asked, knowing that my father meant that we were going to the Death Eater meeting we had been summoned to.

My father nodded. "Indeed," he said.

I pulled my arm out of his grasp and smiled at Draco. He smirked and I boldly reached for his hand in front of my father. Draco's eyes widened and my father's eyes narrowed. "Remember what I said, Athena," he said before we exited the castle.

Draco stared at me. "What did I miss?" he asked.

"I finally cornered him," I said with a smirk. "You're safe from castration so long as my hymen stays intact until after I'm married."

Draco groaned. "Great," he mumbled.

"Keep in mind, Mr. Malfoy that that rule does not mean that you should ask my daughter to marry you so that you can sleep with her," my father said.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Professor," Draco sighed. "Does that mean I have permission should the time come?" he asked.

I smiled. "He already said yes," I whispered in Draco's ear.

"Really?" Draco asked, stunned.

I nodded. "Really," I said.

"In that case..."

My father stopped walking and turned sharply. Crabbe and Goyle stopped before they walked into us. Draco pulled a small box out of his pocket and I gasped. Draco glanced at my father before he smiled at me. "I'm not asking because I want sleep with you, I'm asking because I love you," Draco said, lowering himself to one knee. He opened the box and I stared in shock. "Athena Lilith Snape," he said softly, "will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

I looked at my father. He didn't seem happy about this. I didn't care. I smiled as I looked back at Draco. "You bet your ass I will," I said. He chuckled and pulled the ring out of the box before he stood and placed it on my finger.

"Do you _always_ have to be so crude?" he asked.

I laughed. "Would you honestly have me any other way?" I asked.

Draco shook his head. "No," he said simply before he kissed me.

My father cleared his throat. "We're expected," he reminded us.

"Right," I said, reaching for Draco's hand. We made our way to the Whomping Willow. Without being prompted, I transformed into my Animagus form, a sleek black house cat, and went up to the knot that would immobilize the tree. They climbed into the tunnel and I took my paw away from the tree before following them. Draco stooped to pick me up and started absently scratching me behind my ear. I started purring for the first time ever. If anyone else had picked me up, I would have clawed and bit them to make them put me down.

Draco put me back on four paws as we reached the trap door. My father went up first. I followed him and Draco made sure Crabbe and Goyle stayed back so they couldn't see up my skirt as I climbed the short ladder. He was always thoughtful like that. He followed me up the ladder and the two shitheads that constantly followed him around came up last. Next, we Apparated to Malfoy Manor. One minute we were in the Shrieking Shack and one dizzying second later we were standing in front of Malfoy Manor. I smiled because Malfoy Manor had always been home to me. The Malfoys had virtually raised me after an incident with the nurse who had originally taken care of me while my father was teaching.

We walked through the hallways until we reached the deepest part of the mansion. Other Death Eaters were already gathered. The Dark Lord stood at the head of the room. His eyes were on us as we entered.

"You're late," he hissed.

My father bowed. "Forgive us, my Lord," he said. "My daughter was not where she was supposed to be when I went to bring them with me and Draco decided to propose to her along the way."

"What?" Lucius asked, looking from Severus to Draco and I.

The Dark Lord chuckled. "No problems with that old fool, I trust?" he asked.

"No," my father replied. "He believes we are on our way to a potions convention in Leeds."

"Very good," the Dark Lord said. He turned his gleaming red eyes to Draco and I. "Next time leave your personal life until _after_ I am done with you."

Draco and I bowed. "Yes, my Lord," we replied.

"Still...I suppose congratulations are in order," the Dark Lord said. Draco and I stared in confusion. "Two of my most promising Death Eaters joined in marriage... Yes, I do believe this is cause for celebration. I've been looking for a reason to bring this to light and none could be better than this. Wormtail, open the door."

I watched as Wormtail crossed the room to another door. He slowly opened the door to a room that was shrouded in complete darkness. Slowly, a figure stepped out of the room. She was wearing a long black, form-fitting dress. Her long red hair fell around her shoulders and her skin was as white as snow. Brilliant green eyes looked around the room.

My father fell to his knees and my heart stopped beating for a moment. "Mom?" I whispered.

She came directly for us and knelt in front of my father. "Severus," she whispered before she wrapped her arms around him. He held her tightly, burying his face in her hair. His shoulders shook with a sob.

"How?" he asked.

My mother smiled and kissed the side of his head. "Horcrux," she said softly. "The Dark Lord brought me back from the brink of death."

I looked to the Dark Lord. He smirked. "My best Death Eaters reunited," he said.

My parents stood and my mother turned to me. "Athena," she whispered before I stepped forward and hugged my mother for the first time since infancy. I was crying as she held me at arm's length. She brushed my tears away and kissed my forehead. "I knew you would look like me," she said softly.

I smiled. "I can't believe you're alive," I said.

She chuckled and ran her hand through my hair. "You have to tell me about your life," she said softly. "I want to know everything. Later though," she said. "We have time."

I smiled and nodded. "Yes we do," I said.

The Dark Lord called our attention again. Reports were given by those who had been serving missions. The werewolves, according to Greyback, were on our side. The giants were with us. Inferi were the Dark Lord's to command. Just as I began to wonder why he had insisted us students to come to the meeting, he turned to us.

"Athena," he said. I nodded. "I want Potter," he said. "You are his sister. Do whatever you can to turn or deliver him before his eighteenth birthday. I am tired of these games we play yearly. Draco." Draco nodded. "You are going to kill Dumbledore." Draco's eyes widened. He'd never killed anyone before. "I don't care how. I don't care if it is public or private. He has stolen something from me and he must pay for it. Severus." My father bowed his head. "You are to assist and complete Draco's assignment should he fail. You two," he said, looking to Crabbe and Goyle. They seemed to shrink a little because the Dark Lord had _never_ spoken to them after their Marking. "You will assist Draco and Athena in any way they require." Crabbe and Goyle nodded.

"Yes, my Lord," the five of us said as we bowed.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

That night, I got to know my mother. We would be staying at Malfoy Manor until Sunday night, so Draco, my father, mother, Lucius, Narcissa, and I gathered in one of the dozens of sitting rooms in the mansion. The first question wasn't directed to my mother. It was from Lucius to Draco.

"You asked Athena to marry you?"

Draco smiled and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to him. "Yes I did," he said happily. I looked up at him and smiled. He kissed me before we looked back at our parents.

"You didn't tell us you had intentions..."

Draco chuckled. "Have you met Snape?" he asked. "I didn't tell _anyone_ because of the well-known threat to anyone who wants to go after Athena."

Lucius looked at my father and chuckled. "I suppose that's as good a reason as any," he said.

My father smirked. "You have only one man to worry about, Lucius," he said. "I have them all."

Lucius chuckled as my mother reached up and smoothed my father's chin-length hair back. "How sweet," she said, "you're a daddy."

We all laughed. "And not ready to be a grandfather yet," my father said with a pointed look at me. "Please."

I smiled. "I'm not planing on being a mother any time soon," I said. I looked up at Draco and saw him shake his head.

"Oh thank Salazar," Narcissa said with a smile. "Me? A grandmother? No, not yet."

Draco laughed. "Relax, Mother," he said. "It'll be a while before you're a grandmother."

I turned to my mother. "You said you had a Horcrux?" I asked, needing to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

She nodded. "I was faced with a decision I couldn't make," she said softly. "Choosing between two children. I could choose Harry and die, leaving you all alone. I could choose you and Harry would die. So I made the Horcrux. I didn't want to lose either of you but more importantly, I wanted to be able to be a part of your lives. I didn't know what was going to happen to the Dark Lord. If I had, I don't think I would have let him cast the actual Killing Curse. Though, I suppose that goes into the defying three times part of the prophecy."

"So where have you been?" I asked. "When the Dark Lord didn't have form, he was in Albania..."

"Godric's Hollow," my mother said simply. "In the house. The Dark Lord knew about my Horcrux and I knew he'd come back to the house when he could to bring me back. I didn't think it was going to take him sixteen years to do it though."

"Sounds boring," I said.

She nodded. "Very," she agreed. "On the other hand, it gave me time to come up with a few things and learn some interesting new tricks."

"Like what?" I asked.

She smiled. "Tricks," she said. My father chuckled. There seemed to be something familiar in the way my mom responded to my question. I realized I did the same thing. If I didn't want to go into something, for whatever reason, I would smile and give the broadest term possible. "But enough about me," she said. "What the hell has been going on? My story's boring. I want something with a little _life_ in it." We laughed again.

"Clearly Draco and Athena are engaged," Lucius offered.

"What is it about this that's so shocking?" I asked. "For years, Father," I said looking at mine, "you have made it _very_ clear that the _only_ person in the world you would consent to me marrying or dating was Draco." I turned to Narcissa. "You have been planning our wedding for ten years," I said before I turned to Lucius. "And _you_ have practically arranged the marriage in every way except on paper. Why are you all so surprised?"

"Partly because we thought we were going to have to force you two into this," Lucius said with a glance at my father.

"What does that mean?" Draco slowly asked.

My mother looked between Lucius and my father. "You're bloody joking," she nearly yelled. "You didn't _tell _them?"

Our fathers shook their head. Narcissa stood to pour drinks.

"Severus Tobias Snape!" my mother snapped, slapping his arm.

"Okay, now I'm really confused," I said softly. "What's going on?" I asked.

Narcissa handed Draco and I glasses of wine. "You're going to need those," she said. I had a feeling we were going to need some of Draco's cigarettes as well.

My mother looked at Draco and I. "You two have been married since Draco was born," she said. "By order of the Dark Lord. He wanted our families united so the ceremony was performed about two weeks after Draco's birth."

Draco and I gulped down our wine. After draining the glass, I looked at my father. "You're an ass," I said. "Do you realize that? All of this time you've been a prick about me not being with _anyone_ and now I found out that I've been married since I was three fucking months old?"

"Four, actually," my mother said. "Almost to the day. And what kind of language is that?" she demanded.

"It's called English," I said, putting my glass down on the table next to the sofa Draco and I were sitting on.

She looked at my father while Draco stood up. "You know, it's not that I really mind the fact that we're already married," he began, "in fact, it's probably better that you hadn't told us because we would have hated you for it if you had, but why, in Salazar's name, did you _not_ have the decency to tell us until now? Four years ago, we would have both been thrilled to hear the news." Draco looked to my father. "Is this why you never answered me?" he asked. "Is this why every time I tried to talk to you about Athena you would ignore me as though you'd suddenly gone deaf?"

My father sighed and nodded. "Yes," he said.

"And I'm going to guess that this is the reason you always said Draco was the only person I would ever be able to date or marry without you killing or castrating them?" I asked angrily.

My father nodded again. "Mostly," he answered.

I shook my head and sighed. "You're an ass, you know that?" I asked.

"You made that very clear, Athena," he said coldly. "Would you like to say it one more time?"

I recognized that line. The last time I'd said yes and actually repeated myself I ended up with a couple of broken and sprained bones. Though not violent by nature, my father was the only person I feared.

"I'd like to but I'll refrain," I said, standing and refilling my wine glass. I hesitated as I brought the glass up to my lips. "You've been cheating on me, Dear," I said, looking at Draco.

"It's not cheating if I didn't know we were married," Draco said in his defense. He pointed to his father with the hand that still held his wine. "Blame them if you're that upset about it." He drained his wine and walked up to me for more. As he poured the wine, he wrapped an arm around my waist. "Of course, this means that not even your father can stop us from being together," he whispered in my ear. I smirked and turned to our parents.

"I want the marriage certificate," I said. "Right now."

Narcissa stood and walked over to the safe on the wall behind one of the Malfoy ancestor portraits. She pulled out the certificate and handed it over to me. We really were married. I looked at my father. "See this?" I asked. He reluctantly nodded. "This means that I'm not just your little girl anymore. It means I'm his wife."

"Are you telling me this because you plan on having sex tonight?" he bluntly asked.

Draco stared at my father in shock. "If the mood takes us," I replied. "This paper means you have no say anymore."

"The go," my father said simply. "Shag to your heart's content. Find yourself pregnant in a month. Why are you still standing here?"

I met his eyes. There was fear there. Genuine fear. "I told you, there will _always_ be a place in my life for you, Dad," I said. "I defy, not disown."

"At the moment I fail to see the difference, he said simply. He sighed. "You're right though. I think I may have been just a bit _too_ protective of you."

"Considering half of the students who know I'm your daughter are too scared to approach me because they think simply _talking_ to me will bring fourth your wrath, I'm inclined to agree with you," I said.

"Severus," my mother said with a frown on her face. "You weren't supposed to ruin her social life." She looked up at me. "I have to ask the question and it's completely off topic," she said. I nodded. "How is your brother?"

I let out a bitter chuckle. "Hogwarts resident Golden Boy," I said with a sneer. "Gryffindor to a fucking T, overconfident, arrogant as the day is long, and struts about like he owns the place. I swear, he's just like his father."

"I wouldn't say that," Lily said shaking her head slowly.

Confused, I just stared at her for a moment. "How would you say it then?" I asked.

"He's just like the spells made him," she said. Draco and I both stood a little straighter. "James was never Harry's father," she said. "He's not your half-brother, Athena, he _is_ your brother."

The glass slipped from my hand and shattered on the floor. A moment later, I realized I was running and with the realization, I tripped on hard stone floors. I fell and stayed that way, face pressed against the cold stone.

I heard footsteps coming after me. I didn't move until I felt a hand on my shoulder. The only people who would have dared to touch me were Draco and my father. My mother wouldn't have known not to, but that hand was too large to be hers. Too warm to be my father's.

I slowly turned my head to see Draco kneeling next to me. He brushed my hair away from my face. "Come on," he said, helping me to my feet.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Draco securely closed the door to his bedroom and led me to the chair that was next to the window. He knelt in front of me, looking up at me with mercury eyes. "How can he be my father's son?" I whispered. "How can he be..."

Draco sighed. "Clearly your mother went back to Snape after she did whatever she did to marry Potter. She mentioned a spell..."

"Adoption charms probably," I whispered, wiping tears away. "Most likely to make him look like James which means that, in reality, he probably looks like my father..."

"Find out what his true name is then," Draco said. "You can break the adoption charm that way."

I nodded. "I know," I said.

Draco looked away before he met my eyes again. "After you left, they pointed something out to me," he said. I gave him a confused look. "While we're technically married, nothing is official until it's consummated," he said. "Your name is still Snape, your records still list your father and Potter as your only living relatives, and should anything happen to me you would end up with nothing. That all changes after we have sex." He blushed a little as he said the last.

"Draco Malfoy, are you _blushing?_" I asked, grateful for something to take my mind away from the horrible truth.

"Of course not," he mumbled before he buried his face in my lap. "I'm nervous as hell," he confessed. "Part of me can't believe your father won't kill or castrate me, and I still can't believe we've actually been married since we were infants..." he sighed and I felt his breath against my leg. He wrapped his arms around my waist and looked up at me, tilting his head to the side so that it rest on his arm. "I can't believe that I _can_ be with you in every way and your father has already put the fear of God in me. I swear, Severus Snape is more terrifying than the damn Dark Lord."

I laughed and leaned over to kiss him. "I've thought the same thing half a dozen times," I said. "So," I sighed as I sat back up. "Are we...are we doing this tonight?" I asked, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks.

He smirked. "Now who's blushing?" he asked. I stuck my tongue out at him in response. With a tug on my Slytherin tie, he pulled me down to him before I had the chance to retract my tongue. He captured my mouth with his, his hand sliding around my waist. He pulled me off of the chair and onto the floor with him."No pressure," he whispered in my ear. "But I do kind of like the thought of tonight."

I pulled back a bit and untied his tie. I pulled it away from his neck and kissed him softly. "I like tonight too," I said softly before I pulled his button-down shirt over his head. He tossed it aside and I looked at my pale dragon, noticing how his skin was as white as ivory and I could see the veins underneath. I was just as pale.

Draco smiled and pulled off my tie before he pulled my vest off. We kissed again as he started unbuttoning my white shirt. He pulled me close after my shirt was unbuttoned. Feeling his stomach against mine was like an electric shock running through me.

Draco moved his mouth to my neck, lightly nibbling as his mouth moved lower and lower. He pushed my shirt off of my shoulders and I let it fall to the floor. I felt his hand at the clasp for my bra and I chuckled as he struggled with it. He looked up at me before looking over my shoulder to see what he was fighting with. "Okay," he said, still unable to figure out the clasp. "Help," he asked, letting the garment go. I chuckled as I kissed him and reached behind me to unclasp my bra. I took it off and held it up for him. He grabbed it, glared at it, turned and threw it across the room. "No more of those," he said as he turned back to me.

"That one is my favorite, I hope you know," I said with a smirk.

He shrugged. "We'll get you a new favorite that I can actually unclasp, how does that sound?" he asked. I chuckled and wrapped my arms around him, fully aware that, for the first time ever, I was completely exposed from the waist up in front of another person. Draco pulled my arms down and kissed me before he reached up and ran his hands through my hair. "You're so beautiful," he said, pulling me close and kissing me again. It was the first time anyone had ever said that to me.

Draco let me go and stood before he pulled me to my feet. For a moment, he simply held me. He kissed my cheek and let me go to take his shoes and socks off. Me with my fishnets and exceptionally difficult boots had a more difficult time. I couldn't just kick mine off.

Draco led me to the bed and knelt on the ground again. He found the zipper of my boots and slipped them off of my feet. He met my eyes as he reached up my thigh, under my skirt, to pull the fishnets off. He slowly pulled each one off of my leg before he rose up onto the bed.

I put a hand on his chest as he leaned down to kiss me. "Spell," I said to his confused look He smirked. "You're always on top of things, aren't you?" he asked, kissing my cheek before he got up to reach for the wand he'd set on his nightstand when we came in. Mine was in my boot, where I usually kept it.

Suddenly exposed, I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

Draco came back when he was finished and sat next to me. He tucked some of my hair back and sighed. "Why are you hiding?" he asked.

"I guess I'm just not that comfortable in my own skin," I said softly. "At least, not in front of other people."

Draco smiled and lay on his side. He held his hand out to me and I took it. He pulled me down onto my back and kissed me, caressing my body with the hand that wasn't keeping him up. "You don't need to hide from me," he said softly, his forehead resting against mine. He kissed me again before he abandoned my mouth in favor of my neck. His kisses trailed lower and I gasped when he took one of my nipples in his mouth. As he sucked, he unzipped my skirt and pushed it down. I kicked the skirt away when he released my breast.

For a moment, Draco just looked at me. He lightly ran his hand along my body, smiling. He kissed my cheek and neck before he moved to my earlobe. I was lost to the sensations of his mouth and hands and throbbing with need.

I turned onto my side and wrapped a leg around his waist. I unzipped his pants, my hand brushing against both of us and coaxing a moan from him. I smirked and reached into his boxers, stroking him. Draco cried out and I cut him off with a kiss. "I need you," I murmured against his lips.

He nodded, breathing heavily. I helped him get his pants off before I took off the last article of clothing I still wore.

Draco rose up between my legs and I realized he was trembling.

"What?" I asked.

He let out an embarrassed chuckle. "Still in a state of shock," he confessed.

I smiled and reached up to hold his face in my hands. "It's real," I said softly. I pulled him down and kissed him. I felt him against me and wanted to feel him inside of me. "Please," I whispered.

He nodded and reached down to guide himself inside of me. He hesitated again when he was inside of me as far as he could go. I saw the confusion on his face and knew that I was going to have some explaining to do. "Later," I said breathlessly. "Just...please...don't stop"

He stared at me for a moment before I kissed him and ground my hips against his, driving him deeper inside of me. We both cried out and he started moving in and out of me. I met each of his movements, feeling the pressure build inside of me.

We rolled over and suddenly I was on top. Draco smiled up at me and I chuckled breathlessly. I took every inch of him inside of my body, feeling him fill me up. Draco put his hands on my hips, guiding my movement. My muscles tightened around him and he groaned, his head falling back. I moved faster against him, becoming less fluid the faster I went. As I leaned in to kiss him, he rolled us over again. We kissed and he thrust into me hard enough that I cried out. A moment later, he buried himself inside of me completely and I felt him cum, which was what pushed me over the edge into my own climax. Arms wrapped around his neck and legs around his waist, I held onto him as though letting go would find me floating off into oblivion. He thrust again and I felt another surge go through me. He kissed me and I felt his hand between us. He found _that _spot quickly and rubbed at it until I was screaming with a third orgasm. He pulled out of me and lay next to me. He pulled me close and sighed heavily.

"So...do you want to tell me now or later why you weren't a virgin?" he asked.

I sighed, closing my eyes. "To be honest, I don't want to tell you at all," I said.

"Please?" Draco asked.

I pushed away from him and moved to the edge of the bed. I sat on the edge, holding my head in my hands, my long hair covering me like a curtain. I wanted to find my clothes. I saw my underwear and reached for them. As I pulled them on, Draco sat up.

"Clearly I've just done something wrong," he said slowly.

I saw my shirt next and put it on, buttoning it up as Draco got out of bed. He pulled his pants and boxers on and came up to me. "Athena?" he asked, turning me to face him. His eyes widened when he saw my face. I could feel the tears. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders, holding me close. "Talk to me, please," he whispered. "Tell me who I have to kill for this."

"I already did that," I whispered. "It was a long time ago."

"Clearly not that long ago," Draco said softly, holding me close. "Who was it?" he asked.

I sighed and rest my head on his shoulder. "Flint," I said softly. Draco's arms tightened around me. "Remember when he mysteriously disappeared about two years ago?" I asked. I felt him nod. "He's at the bottom of the Black Lake."

Draco sighed heavily and guided me back to the bed. We laid down, him holding me securely. "Did you tell your father?" he asked.

I shook my head. "You're the first person I've ever said anything to about it," I said.

He sighed again. "If anyone else dares do something like that again, promise me you'll tell me," he said softly. "I will slaughter them."

I chuckled. "You're assuming I don't kill them first," I said softly.

He kissed my cheek tenderly. "We'll kill them together," he said.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Breakfast the next morning was an interesting experience. Seeing my mother at the table was shocking at first because I was certain that it was all just in my head, like a dream that every child who has lost a parent has had. She smiled as I walked in and sat down with Draco at my side. "Morning," she said.

I nodded. "Indeed it is," I said. I sighed. "Are you going to tell Potter that you're alive?" I asked.

Lily sighed. "If you're going to succeed in your mission, I think I'm going to have to," she said. "You should find a way to get him to Hogsmeade. I'll be waiting near the Shrieking Shack."

"Are you going to go there daily or am I going to send you a letter with the day and time?"

"I was planning on staying at the Leaky Cauldron until I saw him," she said. "Severus has decided that he is going to quit teaching this year. It would be rather difficult to spend time with a supposed dead woman and teach at the same time."

I noticed that my father was mysteriously absent from breakfast. "Where is he anyway?" I asked.

My mother sighed. "With the Dark Lord," she said. "Apparently he has been a little _less_ than loyal."

My eyes widened. "What?" Draco and I demanded.

"Good, you two didn't know," she said. "As it turns out, when I died, Severus switched sides in truth. He had been ordered to enter the Order's ranks and become a spy. Before I died, he did his job very well. Afterward, he strayed from the Dark Lord's cause. He is begging—"

Her words were cut off because we were suddenly summoned. I dropped my fork, Draco nearly dropped his coffee, and my mother simply stopped speaking. After a moment, when the burning subsided, she looked at me. "I'd forgotten what that felt like," she said before the three of us stood and made our way to the Dark Lord's chamber.

When we arrived, I felt my heart stop. My father lay on the floor, his hair covering his face. His breathing was ragged and he was shaking. I wanted to run to him, but my mother had me by the arm, keeping me back.

The Dark Lord turned to us as he put his wand away. "Draco," he said, eyes gleaming brightly.

"Yes, my Lord?" Draco asked. I heard his voice shake a little and was suddenly terrified.

"How long have you been working against me?" the Dark Lord asked.

I gasped and turned to him. "What?" I demanded.

Draco gave me a fearful look. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

I pulled my arm out of my mother's grasp and pulled my wand out of my boot. I shoved it into Draco's neck. "You bastard," I growled. "How could you?" I nearly yelled.

"Athena..." he said softly.

I pointed to the Dark Lord. "HE IS OUR LORD!" I screamed. "We follow HIM!"

A tear fell from Draco's eyes. "I'm weak," he said with a voice that broke. He turned to the Dark Lord. He walked away from me, toward him, and dropped to his knees, bowing his head. "My Lord, forgive me," he said with a shaking voice. "I was weak and blind to the full extent of your glory. I accept any punishment you see fit, but please spare my life."

My mother pulled me close to her again as the Dark Lord pulled out his wand. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders, standing behind me so that we both could see what was about to happen. I held her arms tightly, my heart racing.

The Dark Lord pointed his wand at Draco. "How long?" he asked.

"Three months," Draco said softly.

"Stand," the Dark Lord ordered. Draco pushed himself up to his feet. The Dark Lord pointed to me. "Do you see that woman?" he asked. Draco turned and saw me.

"Yes," Draco said with a hoarse voice.

"She represents your future, Draco," the Dark Lord said. "She is everything you hold dear to your heart. She is _loyal_ _to me._ What does that tell you?"

"That I am a fool," Draco whispered, turning his face to the floor, unable to look at me or our master any longer.

"I trust I will not have to worry about your loyalty again?" the Dark Lord asked.

Draco shook his head and looked up at Him. "No, my Lord," he said with a steady voice. "Never again will I doubt you or stray from your cause."

"You will, of course, be punished for your weakness," the Dark Lord said. "You will prove your loyalty by killing Dumbledore, as previously ordered. You will also bring me the memories he keeps in his office. There is something he knows that I seem to be blind to and you _will_ bring me those memories so that I may rectify that."

Draco nodded. "And my punishment, my Lord?" he asked.

The Dark Lord pointed his wand at the wall. A door suddenly formed. "Go in that room," he said. "Stay in until you find your way back out."

Draco nodded and looked at me before he moved to the door. No questions. He trusted our Lord implicitly. Trusted that, once he entered, there would be a way out. He hesitated when he reached for the handle. He looked back at me one more time before he opened the door and stepped in. The door closed behind him and disappeared.

I turned to the Dark Lord. "What's in that room?" I asked.

"His worst fears," the Dark Lord replied before he turned to my father. He pushed my father onto his back with his bare foot and I saw blood on his face. The Dark Lord knelt near my father's head and gently pushed the hair out of his face. It was almost tender, the way a loving master would act to a beloved servant. "Now, Severus," the Dark Lord said softly. My father opened his eyes and looked up at our master. "How were you _so_ good at playing the double agent?" he asked.

"Occlumency," my father whispered. "Neither of you suspected..."

"The old fool turned you away from me," the Dark Lord said, reaching out to wipe some of the blood off of my father's face. "Your wife turns you back. Make me believe that you will not turn on me again."

My father coughed and nodded. "What would you have me do, my Lord?" he whispered.

"Allow me to enter your mind with no restriction," the Dark Lord said softly. "Show me everything."

My father looked fearful but nodded. The Dark Lord held my father's head in his hands and suddenly my father cried out in pain. My mother's arms tightened around me as my hands tightened on her arms. My father screamed and I heard someone else sob. I couldn't tell if it was my mother or me. He screamed again.

"Stop it!" I cried. They couldn't seem to hear anything. "Dad..." I whispered.

"Athena stop," my mother softly ordered. "You won't help anything."

"How can you say that?" I whispered. "Don't you love him?"

"With all of my heart," she said, kissing the back of my head. "But he betrayed the Dark Lord and this is his punishment."

"Why are we being punished then?" I whispered. "Why are we here?"

"Because we are their wives," she said softly. "Because you are his daughter. Their mistakes make us more loyal. We don't want to go through what they are. It's the Dark Lord's way of making sure everyone understands the importance of remaining his..."

The Dark Lord suddenly let my father go. As our master stood, my father curled into the fetal position and quietly sobbed. The Dark Lord looked at my mother and nodded. She let me go and ran to my father, holding him in her arms. I stared at our master, wondering what he was going to have me do.

"The only thing I want you to do right now is wait for Draco to surface," he said. "He will be in great need of you when he does."

I nodded. "Yes, my Lord," I said.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the door appeared and Draco came stumbling out. Clothes torn, blood soaked, almost gray, he fell to the floor the moment he stepped into the room. I stepped toward him but the Dark Lord stopped me with a look. He went to Draco first, kneeling in front of my shaking, gasping husband.

He held Draco's chin and forced Draco to meet his eyes. "I trust that you will not betray me again," he said softly. Draco shook his head. "Good," the Dark Lord said. "Should you do so, whatever you saw in that room, whatever you fought, will become _very_ real."

Draco nodded and I could see that he was shaking like a leaf. The Dark Lord stood and looked at me. He nodded and I ran to Draco, much the same way my mother had run to my father. Draco clutched me to him and started sobbing. I kissed him repeatedly, cradling him in my arms, silently praying that he would still be the same as before when he calmed down.


	8. Chapter 8

I took Draco back to his room shortly after he calmed down enough to walk. I told the House Elves to draw him a bath and then helped him out of his clothes. The injuries he had in the room were gone but the blood was still on his clothes. When the bath was ready, I walked him into the bathroom and helped him into the swimming pool-sized tub. He sat down on the seat that went around the pool and I quickly undressed to join him.

I sank into the water a moment later and waded up to him. I stood in front of him and reached up to move his hair out of his face. He met my eyes. "You don't hate me?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I can't hate you," I said softly. "Even if I wanted to. I'm not happy with what you did, but I do still love you. I always will, Draco. Nothing is going to change that."

"I didn't think there was a way to win," Draco whispered. "I didn't think that he was truly all-powerful because Potter's survived so long. Now I understand."

I nodded. "Good," I said softly, smoothing more of his hair back. I kissed his forehead. "Good," I repeated, wrapping my arms around his neck.

He finally wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. "I don't think I've ever been so afraid in my entire life," he said "A part of me isn't even sure this is real any more..."

"What do you mean?" I asked, pulling away from him so that I could see his face. His eyes were still wide, but the color had come back to his face. "What happened in that room?"

He shuddered and buried his face in my shoulder. "It was horrible," he whispered. "My worst fears manifest right in front of me..."

"It's over," I whispered. "You're not in that room any more," I promised. "You're here, with me, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"Am I really out?" Draco whispered, trembling in my arms. It made me wonder what his darkest fears really were. "I'm not still in the room, am I?" he whispered, looking up at me with wide, almost innocent eyes.

"You're not in the room," I promised. "You're safe now."

He shook his head. "How do I know?" he asked with an almost child-like voice. Tears fell down from his mercury eyes and I felt my heart break. I felt a sob rise in my throat and held him tightly.

"I promise," I said with a shaking voice.

"I need you," Draco said softly. "I need to believe you're real..."

I nodded and loosened my hold on him. "Anything," I said softly before I kissed him. He responded quickly, hardening as we kissed and touched and sighed. He stood and sat me on the ledge, standing between my legs. He pushed his way inside of me without warning, making me cry out. His movements were frantic and forced. Within a minute, they hurt.

I let him keep going. Masochistic at heart and no stranger to pain, I let him fuck me raw. I felt him burst inside of me and it sent a shiver down my spine. With his head thrown back in ecstasy and water dripping down his neck, he poured himself into me and I realized that I was crying.

He looked at me as I tried to hide that fact and I saw the realization hit him like a tidal wave. He stepped away from me and I winced, feeling the loss of him in a way I can't even begin to put into words. "Why didn't you stop me?" he asked.

I met his eyes and shrugged as I pulled a leg up onto the ledge with me and rest my chin on my knee. Arms wrapped around my leg, I wondered when the throbbing would stop. "Would you have heard me?" I asked softly.

He stared at me in shock before he wrapped his arms around my shoulders, one knee up on the ledge so that he could be closer to me. "I'd like to think I would have," he said softly.

"Do me a favor," I said softly, swallowing the sudden lump in my throat.

"What?" he asked.

"Don't ever do that again."

He shook his head "I won't," he swore.

* * *

We returned to Hogwarts the next night. When we arrived, Draco and I found our things had been moved. The Slytherin dormitory had single bedrooms in it for various reasons. Our reason was that we were married and now it was completely official. The others in our class took our "sudden" marriage well, assuming that it was simply the will of our fathers. Everyone knew that they were friends. Everyone knew that they were going to find a way to force us to be together anyway. Most of them figured our absence had been due to our wedding. When they found out that we'd left for a potions convention, they were even more shocked.

Classes on Monday were interesting. When the first teacher called out my name as Athena Malfoy, Potter turned in his chair and looked at me. I glared at him and he shook his head as he turned back around. When the Mudblood turned, I was sure he had said something to her as well. I wondered how the hell I was supposed to deliver him when I couldn't even stand to _talk _to him.

As we left Transfiguration, he walked up to me, standing in my path so I couldn't get around him. Draco, standing at my side because he wasn't going anywhere without me, moved to stand in front of me. I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Don't try to protect me, Honey," I said. "Potter isn't going to do anything more than toss harsh words at me.

Draco stared at me. "Won't do anything?" he asked. "Have you forgotten he damn near killed me last year?"

I sighed. "Draco, he's my brother," I said. "Don't protect me."

With a look on his face that could have been chiseled out of stone, Draco took a step back to stand at my side instead of in front of me. I looked at Potter. "What can I do for you?" I asked, noticing how his two lackeys were standing with him.

"Was she really a Death Eater?" he asked.

"Do you want to know for certain?" I asked. "I have undeniable proof."

"Yes," he answered.

"Fine," I said. "This Saturday, come to Hogsmeade. I'll be waiting in front of the Shrieking Shack at noon with the proof."

"Why not stay here at Hogwarts?" Potter asked.

I smirked. "I didn't say I have the proof at Hogwarts," I said. "If you want to know, meet me there. You won't believe your eyes." I gestured to his friends. "Bring your lap dogs," I said. "You know you're going to tell them all about it anyway. Might as well have them come along."

"How do I know this isn't a trap?" he asked.

"That's why you're bringing your friends," I said condescendingly. "You'll have back up. I'll be there with Draco and my proof."

"How can we be related and you be a Death Eater?" he asked softly.

I grabbed his head and held my forehead to his. "Come to Hogsmeade on Saturday and you will understand," I said slowly. "Have I made myself clear?"

"Don't touch me," he spat.

I smirked, kissed his forehead, and pushed him away from me. "See you Saturday, little brother," I said before Draco and I walked away. I wiped my mouth off on my sleeve. "Ew," I muttered. "Potter germs."

Draco couldn't help but chuckle. "Why did you do it then?" he asked.

"To piss him off," I said with a smirk. "Looks like that part was taken care of."

"You're going to have her waiting on Saturday then?" he asked.

I laughed. "What other undeniable proof do I have?" I asked. "Photographs can be altered, I doubt he would last through one of _my _memories, and he's certainly not going to believe dear old daddy."

Draco nodded. "Very true," he said as we entered our Arithmancy class. Moments later, the Mudblood followed. She had the class with us while Potter and the traitor were off visiting that giant oaf out by the forest.

"You had _no_ right to do that," she said angrily.

I turned away from her and sat down. She had no right to speak to me.

She grabbed the hair at the back of my head. I cried out and grabbed her wrist, digging my nails into her skin until she let go. I stood up and faced her. "I swear to Salazar if you _ever_ fucking touch me again, I will break you."

"Pay attention when someone speaks to you then," she hissed, yanking her arm away.

"I pay attention when people of actual import speak to me," I sneered. "You have no reason to even _look_ at me so why don't you go to your corner and I'll stay in mine and I won't kill you."

She laughed bitterly. "I'd like to see you try," she growled.

I reached up and held her face in my hand. She winced as I squeezed. "I am not afraid to kill," I said darkly. "You are. That is why you will lose." I shoved her away and sat down again. I heard her take a step toward me and pulled out my wand. She hesitated, and then she walked away, just in time for Professor Vector to walk in.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Saturday arrived quickly. Draco and I ate our breakfast in the early dawn hours, long before the Gryffindors ever got out of bed, and went back to our room to finalize our plans. Once ready, we made our way to the Whomping Willow. In the Shrieking Shack was a door disguised as part of the wall that led to Hogsmeade. The boarded up old shack wasn't nearly as secure as people believed it was.

My mother was waiting on a large boulder in front of the shack and smiled as Draco and I walked up to her. "He's coming?" she asked.

I nodded. "I made him an offer he simply could not refuse," I said with a smirk.

My mother raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" she asked. "And what would that be?"

"Irrefutable proof of who and what you were," I said simply.

My mother nodded. "And in true James fashion, I imagine he's very eager to see what you have in store for him and will be here early."

I nodded. "Most likely," I said as I sat next to her. "Now we simply wait."

Eleven-thirty rolled around and I saw them coming up the path. I nodded at my mother and Draco and she slipped into the trees. We'd show her to Potter in a minute. I was surprised when I realized Potter had left the traitor behind. Just him and the Mudblood. Perhaps he didn't want me to feel outnumbered?

I watched as they walked up the path. They stopped a few feet away from me. "So where's the proof?" Potter asked.

"No foreplay?" I asked. "You just want to jump right in, get down and dirty, and pull out?"

The Mudblood chuckled. She, apparently, understood the joke. She glanced at Potter and then at me. "Actually he's really good with foreplay," she said.

I couldn't help it. I laughed. "And I suppose you know this for a fact?" I asked. "Are the rumors about the two of you actually true?"

She nodded. I wondered if she would turn with him if we could actually get him to turn. Mudblood she may be, she was still a brilliant witch and would benefit the Dark Lord's cause.

"Can we just get this over with?" Potter demanded.

I sighed dramatically. "You're no fun at all, little brother," I said. I turned toward Draco but looked to the trees behind him. "Mother, would you please come out here?" I asked.

Potter and his girlfriend stared at me. "She's dead," he said.

"No," said a voice from the direction I'd spoken to. The Gryffindors turned. "I'm _not_ dead, Harry," she said. I watched as Potter's face slackened and paled enough that his face was almost translucent. He stared at our black-clad mother in complete shock.

"But..." he whispered.

She smiled as she walked up to him. "You have my eyes," she said softly, holding his face in her hands. She ran her thumb over his scar. "Interesting," she said softly. She kissed his forehead and hugged him. "You're all grown up," she whispered. "Both of you are..."

Potter pulled away from her. "How are you alive?" he asked.

"Horcrux," my mother said simply. "Sacrificing myself for you meant that I didn't have to go through the loss of a child. Creating the Horcrux meant that my children didn't have to go through life without a mother. Unfortunately, the Dark Lord's body was destroyed that night so the plan failed. He gave me corporeal form again last week. Finding servants willing to cut off their own hands is really hard to do," she said.

Potter paled again. "So you really...you really are a Death Eater?" he asked.

Our mother pulled her left sleeve up, exposing the red Dark Mark on her forearm. "Very much so," she said. "Loyal as always and grateful to be both back in his service and finally reunited with my husband."

"Snape," Potter bitterly spat. Granger put an arm around his shoulders. He was virtually shaking with rage. He glared at our mother. "Did you love my father at all?" he demanded. "Is everything she ever said about you actually true?" he demanded, pointing a finger at me.

My mother chuckled. "I don't know, Harry, what has she said about me?"

"That you're as cold as you are kind," he said. "That you've killed more people than she can count..."

"Yes," Lily said with a small smile. "Harry there are many _many_ things you do not understand," she said. "Severus was my best friend growing up. He introduced me to magic. When we came to Hogwarts, he was the only person I spoke to for quite some time."

"But...the things he did to you!" Potter cried.

"Were all show," she softly replied. "There are more memories that you don't see than what you do," she said softly, holding his face in her hands again. "Severus has told me so much, though even he admits that his opinions of you are influenced by James. That, I'm afraid, is entirely my fault."

"Tell me the truth then," Harry said. "Tell me everything."

"We don't have enough time to tell you everything," she said. "Though perhaps a few Butterbeers would do us all some good."

"Won't people recognize you?" Potter asked.

Our mother chuckled. "When you've been dead for sixteen years, Harry, people forget what you looked like. And for those who do remember, memory charms are a blessing."

* * *

Sitting around a table with Butterbeers in hand, our mother launched into the tale of Potter's conception.

"In the winter of seventy-nine, Severus heard a prophecy made in the Hog's Head," she began. "Born to parents who had thrice defied the Dark Lord and blah blah blah. I assume you know that part."

Potter shook his head. "I mean, I knew someone had heard but..."

"Ah," Mother said. "Well, it was Severus. Of course, he immediately took this information to the Dark Lord. Just as any faithful servant would have. Unfortunately he was unable to hear the entire prophecy, but we dealt with that.

"At that time, I was pregnant with Athena," she said, smiling as she reached to her side and smoothed my hair back. I smiled at her. "There wasn't much I could do for the Dark Lord because both of you were very difficult pregnancies." She paused and looked at me. "You need to be careful of that when you two decide to have children," she said. "Harry almost killed me."

"I did?" Potter asked.

She nodded as she looked back at him. "You did," she said. "Anyway, the Dark Lord decided that he wanted a guarantee, so to speak. He wanted to know, for certain, that the child he went after was _the_ child he was supposed to go after. Enter a time-turner."

"Time-turner?" Potter asked.

"Are you going to interrupt me every time I pause?" our mother asked. Potter blushed and shook his head. "Good," she said before she took a sip of her Butterbeer. "Okay. When Athena was four, five months old and what needed to happen with her was taken care of, I was given a year-turner by the Dark Lord," she said. "I went back in time three years, used charms to make me look like my eighteen year-old self, and relived my seventh year of Hogwarts, this time choosing the good guys. Things made a lot more sense to me after I went back because for three years people had been talking to me about things that I had never been a part of but they knew I'd been there. Afternoons spent with the Marauders, for instance. The first time through, I had no idea what they were talking about. The second time, I couldn't do anything to ease the confusion.

"Following graduation, James and I were married. That was probably the _worst_ day of my life," she said with a hard look on her face. Potter looked almost disgusted with her. "I was betraying my husband, leaving my daughter behind, living a lie, and unable to serve the Dark Lord in more than just a passing fashion. I wanted to go home.

"So I did. Quite a few times. I remembered those nights I'd spend away from Severus and go to him. He never realized the difference. Those nights were what kept me going. Of course, when Athena was conceived, I had to stop when Severus realized that one day I was slightly heavier than I was the next. I realized I was pregnant with you a few months later.

"When I knew the mission had been given, I went to Severus again, failing to remember that I was in the house. One pregnant Lily isn't the funnest of things. Two of them in the same room unexpectedly was a complete disaster."

"But you aren't supposed to be seen when you're using a time-turner," the Mudblood said.

"That's when you're using one _legally,_" our mother said. "It's rare that a Death Eater does anything legally.

"After my other self calmed down, I explained all of the things we had never understood the first time, just as I had when I was her, if that makes any sense at all." The four of us nodded. "Once explained, I turned to Severus and told him what was probably the one secret that could ruin everything for us. You see, the child of the prophecy was supposed to be born to parents who had thrice defied the Dark Lord. Only one parent had ever defied, as far as I knew. I was certain the mission had failed. Certain that I was going to be punished or killed."

"Wait," Potter said. "As far as you knew?" he asked. "What does that mean?"

Our mother sighed. "That, Harry, means that James is not your father."

Potter paled again. His girlfriend paled as well. "What?" he whispered.

Our mother sighed. "Severus is your father, Harry," she said. "We used charms to make you James' son in every way except your DNA. _That_ is something we can't change."

"Did you even love him?" Potter demanded. "I mean...did you care about him at all?"

Our mother sighed. "You don't spend every day with a man and not care in some way, Harry," she said. "No, I never loved him. On the other hand, I don't think he ever loved me either. We had a marriage of convenience, Harry. Very little more than that. And keep in mind, Harry, had I _not_ cared about him in some way, you would look like Athena and I would not have gone to such great lengths to hide your paternity."

"Does anyone else know?" Potter asked.

"Severus, Black and Lupin, most likely Pettigrew, Dumbledore—"

"_Dumbledore _knew?" Potter demanded.

"And the Weasleys," our mother finished.

Potter looked ready for blood. "The _Weasleys_ too?"

Lily nodded. "Yes," she said. "I may have been an expert at charms, but most of them were common charms. Molly was an expert at the more unusual tricks of the trade. I mean," she chuckled, "if you honestly think Arthur Weasley really has seven children, take another look at Percy."

Potter and his girlfriend stared at each other for a moment before turning back to our mother. Potter looked at me. "Do you enjoy shattering people's perceptions?" he asked.

"Honestly?" I asked. He nodded. "Yes," I said simply. "It gives me this warm fuzzy feeling inside and makes me smile." I pointed to myself. "Evil, remember?" I asked. "And its in your blood too." I leaned in close. "He would rather you join us, Harry," I said in a low voice, using his first name on purpose. "He doesn't want to have to kill you. Wouldn't you rather be with your family?" I asked. "Wouldn't you rather be with the mother who gave her life for yours?"

Potter looked at our mother. "I can't just turn my back on everything," he said.

"Why not?" I asked softly. "They turned their backs on you more than once. They have lied to you every day. You are supposed to be their hero and they treat you like a lunatic. You are supposed to be their savior and they have damned you. Why would you stay with them? Why help them when they refuse to lend you any aid whatsoever? Join us, Harry," I said softly. "We'll even let your girlfriend live because she'll be a greater asset to us and we'll ignore her blood." I nodded my head in our mother's direction. "Look at mum," I said. "The Dark Lord brought her _back._ He can't be all _that_ bad, can he?" I asked.

He sighed. "I don't know," he said softly. Granger stared at him in shock. I sat back with a smile. The seeds of doubt had been planted. The tables would turn.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

While we waited for Potter to make a decision, Draco plotted Dumbledore's death. He paced our room for hours, usually well into the night. Finally sick of his pacing after day four, I let out an exasperated sigh and put down my Transfiguration essay.

"You are going to wear a hole in the floor, my love," I said. "And right through my patience."

Draco looked up at me. "I'm open to suggestions," he said.

"How about walking up to his office and using a good old fashioned killing curse?" I asked. "He doesn't know you're not a spy any more," I reminded him. "The only people who know that are the Dark Lord, my parents, and me. If you walk up there, go through the motions of a meeting, and pull your wand while his back is turned, I'm sure you can do it."

"This is _Dumbledore_ we're talking about!" Draco cried. "The _only_ man the Dark Lord has ever been afraid of."

"The Dark Lord has a very personal history with Dumbledore," I said sharply. "You know that just as well as I do! Truth be told, I'm sure we're among the _few_ who know that. Dumbledore is an old man. If you go in there with shocking enough information, I'm _sure_ you'll find an opening."

"Shocking enough information?" Draco asked.

"Tell him my mother's alive," I said with a shrug. "If he's going to be dead by the end of the meeting, there's no harm in it."

"And if I fail to kill him?" Draco demanded. "What then? He's got the information."

"Then tell him Harry has a piece of the Dark Lord inside of him and is being controlled."

Draco waved that suggestion off. "He's known that for years," he sighed.

"That's true?" I asked, shocked.

Draco nodded. "Potter's one of the Dark Lord's Horcruxes. Dumbledore figured it out in...second year I think. Not that Potter's a Horcrux, but that he's got a piece of the Dark Lord inside of him."

"Holy shit," I said. "Have you told the Dark Lord this yet?" I asked.

"Your father did," Draco replied. "Reason number one why the Dark Lord would rather have Potter on his side than be forced to kill him."

"Oh," I said simply. "Well," I slowly began, "I don't know what to tell you then. Why don't you go talk to my father," I suggested. "The Dark Lord did specifically order him to help you which is basically his way of saying that one person is not enough to take the old fool down. I'll bet the two of you can corner and kill him. My father is one of the best with the dark magic and he's a quick caster."

Draco nodded. "Tomorrow," he said, sighing as he flopped down onto our bed.

There was a knock on our door. "Come in," Draco called out. The door opened and Blaise appeared. "For some reason, Potter is out in the hallway looking for the two of you," he said. "What's going on."

"Dunno," Draco said as we stood. We exchanged a look and walked out passed Blaise. He followed us into the common room and went to a table where his books were spread out. Draco and I went for the door that led out of the dormitory and found my brother standing across the hall.

"First question," I said as he started to speak, "how did you know where our dormitory was?" I asked.

He smirked. "Second year," he said. "During the Chamber of Secrets thing. Around Christmas Ron and I used polyjuice potion to pose as Crabbe and Goyle so that we could find out who the Heir of Slytherin was."

"So you mean you've actually been _in_ our common room?" I demanded.

He nodded. "Yes I have," he said. He smirked. "Not all Gryffindors follow the rules," he said. "Which is something I came down here to talk to you about."

"Come on," I said, nodding down the hall. There was an unused classroom down there that had more than a dozen charms over it. Slytherins loved to use it to plot. When people were using it, it was completely inaccessible.

Draco opened the door and held it open while I entered. Potter followed me in and then Draco walked in, securely closing the door behind him and sliding the lock in place. The lock activated the secrecy spells around the room. Potter gave us a weary look.

"It's for the charms on the room," I said. "Makes this probably one of the best places in the entire castle for secrecy. Somehow, I don't think think this is a conversation you want people hearing."

He nodded. "That's certainly true," he said.

I walked over to a desk and sat on it. Chairs? Not for me, thanks. "So," I sighed, "what's on your mind, little brother?" I asked.

"First off, can you stop with the little brother comments?" he asked. "I'm only three months younger than you."

"Not according to mum's body, you're not," I said with a smirk. "You're three years younger than me."

"We're not exactly living her time line," Potter grumbled as he and Draco walked over to me. Draco sat on the desk with me and Potter took the one opposite us, sitting on the table and crossing his legs Indian style. He sighed and rubbed his face. "Does he really want me?" he asked.

"Be more specific," I said.

He glared at me. "Voldemort," he said.

"Don't say his name!" I cried, offended.

"Why not?" Potter asked.

I glanced at Draco. "Because he's...okay so no one really knows why we're not supposed to say his name, except that he wants the world so afraid of him that speaking his name will strike terror into their hearts but that's beside the point. He's not our equal, Harry," I said. "He's our lord. Don't say his name."

Potter sighed and shook his head. "Whatever," he said. "Does _the Dark Lord_ actually want me on his side?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "To be completely honest, which is something I don't normally do, you are my mission right now," I said.

Draco grabbed my arm. "What are you doing?" he hissed in my ear.

I turned and looked at my husband. "My job," I said. "You don't use secrets and lies to get Harry Potter," I said, clearly enough that even Potter could hear me. "You use the truth. Let me do my job and I'll let you do yours."

Draco shook his head and I turned back to my brother. "Now then," I said. "Yes, the Dark Lord wants you, Harry," I said. "He would rather not kill you for a few reasons, but the only one we're really going to go into right now is mum. He's just gotten her back after a near seventeen-year absence and he really doesn't want to risk losing her again. She chose you once, she'll likely choose you again. If you were to join us, there would be nothing standing in the way of our Dark Lord standing triumphant over England and eventually his power would spread. He's got a large enough standing in Bulgaria because he practically owns Durmstrang. He also has Albania. His attention isn't _just_ focused here. There are things he is doing that no one knows about, Harry," I said. "And even if, _if_, you beat him, his cause would continue on because we are not mindless servants. We _believe_ in his cause. In him," I said. "You have a choice to make and it's probably a lot harder for you than just about anyone because you have the most to lose no matter what you chose. If you fight us, you lose your family. If you join us, you lose them. No one can make the decision for you, but the thing you should really think about is who has actually lied to you," I said. "Have the Dark Lord or any of his Death Eaters _ever_ lied to you, Harry?" I asked.

He sighed and slowly shook his head. "No," he said softly. "Not once."

"Now what does that tell you?" I asked.

He sighed and held his head in his hands, elbows propped up on his knees. "If I do this, I could lose Hermione," he whispered.

"She won't turn with you?" I asked.

Harry shrugged. "I doubt it," he said. "She's constantly fighting for equality," he said. "Humans and non-humans alike. If I do this, I'm saying she's nothing..."

"That's not true," I said.

Harry raised his eyebrows doubtfully. "Really?" he asked as though he didn't believe it. "You yourself have called her a Mudblood."

"I called my own mother a Mudblood," I said with a shrug. "Keep in mind, Harry, that when the Dark Lord wins, all wizards _will_ be equal. Even the werewolves."

"How so?" Harry asked.

"We'll all be his," Draco answered. "Anyone with the Dark Mark will be the leaders of the new age. People like your mother and Granger, if Granger comes over to our side with you, will be looked at as purified. They've seen the light, they've helped bring the world to its rightful order, and they are going to be rewarded. The Dark Lord will reward his servants, Potter," he said. "When the time comes, he will make us all kings."

Harry chuckled. "And all Dumbledore promises is his downfall," he said. "So what happens if I agree to all of this?" he asked. "What's the next step?"

"I take you to the Dark Lord," I said simply. "You tell him your intentions, he determines whether or not you can be trusted, and then he'll give you the Mark. After that, you'll serve missions he orders you to go on and when the time is right, we will crush Dumbledore's feeble resistance. The only thing I ask is that you make a decision _before_ your birthday."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Because that's my deadline," I said.

Harry nodded and sighed. "I'll have an answer before then," he said. "I need to figure out what's going to happen with Hermione first."

"We can always hogtie her and bring her with us," I said with a shrug. "You won't have to worry about her going anywhere that way."

Harry looked horrified for a moment before he realized I was joking. We laughed and he shook his head. "She would skin me alive if I dared try," he said. "I'll keep checking back with you periodically," he said.

I nodded. "Great," I said with a smile. I stood up and held out my hand. Harry took it and we shook. "Nice chatting with you again," I said. "If you need help with your girl, come find me," I said. "I swear I'll be nice."

"Yeah, she told me about Arithmancy by the way," he said. I smiled. "You sprained her wrist."

"Oops," I said with a smirk. "Sorry."

"Do me a favor," Harry began, "try not to break my girlfriend. If things work out, I am going to ask her to marry me someday."

I ruffled his hair. "No worries," I said as Draco stood. He and I left the room, leaving Harry alone with his thoughts. I saw him sit back down as we left and wondered what was going to happen.

"How do you know that he's not going to go straight to Dumbledore?" Draco asked.

I smiled. "Because if he was planning on going to Dumbledore, he would have gone up there already. And you and I would have been called in by now. Besides, I've got something Dumbledore can't compete with," I said.

"And what's that?" Draco asked.

"Family."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

It was the next afternoon, while I was browsing through the library for a book on animalistic tendencies for transfiguration when a short throat-clearing cough sounded behind me. I smirked as I reached for the book I was looking for. "Hello, Granger," I said, opening the book. "What can I do for you?"

"Why are you doing this to Harry?" she asked. I glanced at her and saw that there were tears on her cheeks. "He's getting into fights with everyone, he won't talk to anyone, and last night I saw him staring at his arm as though he was trying to picture the Dark Mark there."

"I'm not doing anything to your boyfriend," I said, meeting her eyes. "What he's going through is all him. I'm simply giving him a choice. Do you know what's keeping him from saying yes?" I asked. She shook her head. "You," I said. "He loves the shit out of you and he doesn't want to do this without you. He's afraid that if he takes you with him, though, that we're going to abuse and torture you simply because of your blood. My mother is a Mudblood, just like you are." Her eyes narrowed. "It's just a word, Granger," I said. "And keep in mind that even if the Dark Lord should fall, his followers won't. We're not mindless sheep. We don't receive our orders without rhyme and reason. We don't lie to our people or about what we do. Yes, we kill. Yes, we use dark magic. Yes, we're pretty evil people. But we're not ashamed of that. It's not that we don't know what the boundaries are, it's that we don't care. We're amoral sociopaths and we're united in a cause," I said. "You can't stop us. You might as well join us."

Granger sighed. "What happens to Harry if he does?" she asked.

"He'll be celebrated," I said. "He's the fucking Boy Who Lived!" I softly cried. "He's probably going to be the Dark Lord's second in command which is going to irritate, annoy, and piss off Lucius, Bellatrix, and my father because they're the Dark Lord's three go-to people. And my mother," I added as an afterthought. "But he will be welcomed into our circle," I said. "If you come with him, you'll be welcomed as well," I said. "Between you, me, and Draco, we could come up with anything," I said. "We could win the war and then we'll enter a time of peace that will last forever," I said. "You _really_ should join us."

She actually seemed to be considering it. "What do you want us to do?" she asked.

"Is my opinion going to influence your decisions?" I asked.

She sighed. "It might," she said.

I leaned against the ledge and folded my arms in front of me. "Harry's my brother," I said. "I don't want him to die. I spent six years following him around because it was the only way I was ever going to be a part of his life. I don't want him to die. I would be the happiest and proudest sister if he joined us. You are a huge part of Harry's life. He adores you. He loves you. You make him happy. Being a Death Eater doesn't stop people from loving or caring. If anything, it makes us more passionate because there are no restrictions. You _can_ be cruel one day and kind the next. You can beat up your daughter and she'll still lovingly call you mum or dad. Take Lucius and Narcissa for an example. The only reason they only have one child is because Narcissa can't have any more. They go at it like rabbits. They love each other unconditionally. Cut him and she's the one bleeding. Same for Draco and I. Same for my parents. Same for you and Harry. He and I got off on the wrong foot but we were on two very different sides of the fight. Now that he's on the edge, unsure of which way he's going to lean, we get along. Just because I'm an evil bitch doesn't mean I don't care. It doesn't mean I can't love. It doesn't mean he means nothing to me. Just because the Dark Lord wants to rule the world doesn't mean he won't treat those loyal to him with kindness. Not once have I _ever_ earned his disfavor. I have already been rewarded in many ways. Draco and my father even betrayed his cause but he showed them forgiveness when they vowed on their lives that they would never do it again."

"Snape really was loyal to Dumbledore then?" Granger asked.

I nodded. "When the Dark Lord killed my mother he changed sides, yes," I said. "But the Dark Lord brought my mother back to us. If he truly didn't care, do you think he would have done it?" I asked. "Do you think he would have taken the time to retrieve her Horcrux and find someone willing to cut off their own hand for her life and surprise us with it if he didn't care? He wants us happy, Granger," I said. "Happy soldiers are loyal soldiers."

She slowly nodded. "Harry could use some happiness," she said softly. "What would the Dark Lord do for him?"

"I can't answer that," I said simply. "I'm not the Dark Lord and I can't make promises for him. The only thing I can promise is that you both would be welcome."

Granger sighed and ran her hands through her hair. Time had tamed it, or she'd just gotten better at doing something with it over the years. The curls fell gently around her face, no longer bushy and chaotic. She looked good, for being a Mudblood. Then again, my mother was one of the most beautiful people I had ever met.

"Think about it," I said. "Take time. You don't have to make a decision today."

She met my eyes. "You know as well as I do that the decision was made the minute you brought Lily back into Harry's life," she said softly. "It's not the decision that's hard," she said. "It's admitting it and the fear of what's going to happen once it's been accepted."

I nodded. "I know," I said. "If I didn't want Harry to come to us, do you really think I would have given him our mother?" I asked. "I could have kept her to myself. I could have never revealed she was alive. I want my family to be whole," I said. "It's been broken and fragmented for far too long."

Granger nodded. "I can't believe it's come to this," she whispered, holding her face in her hand. "I've never killed anything bigger than a bug," she said. "Never practiced dark magic..."

I put a hand on her shoulder. "The curses are easy," I said softly. "It's backwards defense," I said. "If anyone can figure out what to do, it's you. And Harry hasn't done those things either."

"He killed Quirrell," she said, meeting my eyes again. "He's used the Unforgivable Curses before. Harry isn't a stranger to darkness," she said.

"Neither are you, Granger," I said. "I can see it in your eyes."

"Can I see it?" she asked.

"The Dark Mark?" I asked. She nodded. "Sure," I said with a shrug. I rolled up my sleeve and showed her the red tattoo. "Hurts like hell when you're given it," I said. "Hurts like hell when he summons you. As a Death Eater though, you have to learn to live with all kinds of pain."

She held my arm in her hand and lightly ran a finger over the snake, following its path to the skull. "It's actually...beautiful in a morbid kind of way," she said softly. She looked up at me. "I'll talk to Harry," she said. "You'll have the answer soon."

I nodded. "I know," I said softly. She turned and walked away. I smiled as I pulled my sleeve back down and picked up my book. As I started to walk away, I was grabbed from behind by Draco. His arms around my waist, I leaned back into him. "Yes, Dear?" I asked.

I could almost hear his frown. "Why do you call me 'Dear' so patronizingly?" he asked.

I chuckled. "No particular reason," I said. "What's on your mind?"

He kissed my cheek. "Meeting with your father," he said. "Come with?"

"Is this regarding a certain act?" I asked.

He nodded, his chin on my shoulder. "It is," he said.

I shrugged my free shoulder. "Let me check this book out," I said. "Then I'm all yours."

He held me closer with one hand, the other discretely moving under my skirt from behind. I let out a small moan as he slipped a finger in and felt my face flush. "You're always mine," he whispered in my ear.

I leaned my head back on his shoulder, his finger still moving in me. "You're going to pay for this tonight," I promised.

He chuckled as he removed his hand and let me go. He spanked me as he stepped around me and I bit back a squeak of surprise. He licked off his finger and smirked, raising his eyebrows suggestively. "I look forward to it," he said before he started to walk away. "I'll meet you in the hall," he said.

I took a minute to regain my composure before I went to Madam Pince to check out the book. After signing my soul away, I put the book in my shoulder bag and walked out of the library. Draco was waiting next to the doorway, leaning against the wall. He pushed himself off as I walked up to him and we made our way down to the dungeons to meet with my father.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Draco and I walked into my father's office and found him, as usual, standing over a cauldron. He mumbled to himself as he added ingredients and stirred, adding an opposing stir every so often. It made the ingredients mix better and faster if you did that.

"Two minutes," he said, pointing to the minute glass.

Draco and I waited. We didn't need to ask how he knew we were in the office, he was Severus Snape. Nothing, and I mean nothing, ever got passed him unnoticed. Even if he didn't know what it was, he noticed that there was something...not quite right.

The two minutes we waited were the slowest two minutes of my life. They almost felt longer than the twenty minutes Draco had spent in a room with no doors facing his biggest fears.

Finally, the sand in the minute glass emptied and my father set the spoon down. He rolled his shoulders, stretching his back, then turned toward us and nodded, mopping his sweaty brow with his sleeve. "Sit," he said, moving toward his desk. We sat across from him and he reached for the water waiting for him. Judging by the condensation on the glass, I was sure it was ice cold.

"What have you come up with so far?" he asked, eyes on Draco.

"Not much of anything," Draco confessed. "Athena suggested catching him off guard with new and shocking information, such as Lily, but I don't want to tell him something and then fail to kill him."

My father nodded. "I agree," he said. "Unfortunately, that is the risk. And facing him yourself would be exceptionally dangerous. Dumbledore may be old, but he's powerful and he has tools at his disposal not even the Dark Lord can control. Perhaps..."

"What?" I asked.

"Regulus Black found one of the items the Dark Lord placed a piece of his soul in," my father explained. "One of his Horcruxes. Dumbledore knows about them now," he informed us. My eyebrows went up in shock. "As the Dark Lord made so many of them and is, unfortunately, rather predictable, Dumbledore has had trouble identifying and gathering some of the objects.

"The object I am speaking of is in a cave. Or, rather, it _was_ in a cave. Before the Dark Lord had Regulus Black killed, he went to the cave and retrieved it. He failed to destroy it and it has been secured.

"As Dumbledore is searching for these objects, I can slip him this information. The replacement locket is as secured as the original one was and is now a fake Horcrux, designed to throw someone on the trail for them off. We send Dumbledore to retrieve it, and when, or if, he comes back, he will be weakened enough to kill. Draco, can you do this?"

Draco nodded. "I can," he said. I smiled with pride.

"Right," my father said with a nod. "I'll deliver the information to Dumbledore immediately. I'll let you know when he leaves. Cast the Dark Mark over the Astronomy Tower so he goes directly there upon his return. Potter will likely be with him..."

"Why?" I asked.

"Dumbledore has enlisted his assistance in certain tasks over the year. It's likely he will be there for this as well. It's Dumbledore's way of preparing Potter for the fight ahead of him. How close is Potter to turning?" he asked.

"He's on the edge," I said. "This could undo all of that."

"We'll wait until tomorrow then," my father said. "I want you to do whatever you can to sway him tonight."

I nodded.

"Go on then," my father said. "Both of you. You have work to do."

After leaving my father's office, I made my way up to the Gryffindor Tower. Unlike the other dormitories, anyone who had been here in nineteen ninety-three knew where the Gryffindors were housed.

I walked up to the portrait of the Fat Lady. She eyed me wearily. I briefly wondered if she wondered if I was going to cut her canvas like Sirius Black had.

"Password?" she asked.

I chuckled. "Do I look like I know the password?" I asked. She smugly shook her head. "I need to get a message to Harry Potter, is he in there?" I asked.

"Those who come and go are not mine to track," she said. Which was actually a load of hippogriff dung because it _was_ the job of the dormitory guardians to keep track of who came in and out.

I smiled sweetly, which was difficult because I don't have a sweet smile. Most of my smiles were grimaces or made me look like I was in pain. It was only the rare genuine smile, the one Draco usually brought out in me, that actually made me look happy. The smirks had been perfected in front of mirrors and I knew just what to do to make someone scared or turn him on.

"Is there any way you can check?" I asked, knowing that there was but that she wasn't going to do it for me just yet.

She shook her head.

"Dammit!" I shouted, slamming my palm onto her canvas. She winced and moved to the side of the painting. "I need to talk to my brother," I spat. "Family emergency."

"Harry Potter has no sisters," The Fat Lady snapped.

"He's got me!" I nearly shouted at her. "Find him or I'll make sure that stupid squib can't repair you!"

She glared at me and left her painting. Whether she was going for a professor or my brother was a mystery until she came back a few minutes later. "He's on his way," she said, seconds before the portrait swung forward. Harry and Granger stepped out, looking at me oddly.

"Come with me," I said before I started walking away. I didn't give them the option of asking questions and they didn't bother as I led the way to the dungeons and that unused classroom.

I held the door open as they walked in. I locked it behind me after I closed it and Granger gave me a wide-eyed look.

"Charms on the room," Harry said. Granger seemed to take that as explanation enough, which was a bad sign because she didn't know _what _charms were on the room. Neither did Harry. He had been trusting enough the first time he'd been in here too.

I sat down on one of the desks, probably the one I'd sat on the last time we were all gathered in here, and tucked a leg up under my knee. Harry followed and, a moment later, Granger did the same. They sat on two desks that were right next to each other, across the isle from mine. The last teacher who had used this classroom had set up the desks so that they were facing each other instead of the front. I wondered what they taught in this room and if it had been Dumbledore who had gotten rid of the subject, like he had a few others when he first took charge in Hogwarts.

"So," Harry said, leaving the word hanging in the air expectantly. He wanted to know why I called them out of the tower. I didn't blame them. It was what I'd wanted when Harry had called Draco and I out.

I took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. "How do you feel about Dumbledore?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

I sighed heavily. "How would you feel if Dumbledore died tonight?" I asked.

Their eyes widened. "That would depend on _how_ he died," Harry replied. "Murder? Accident? Heart failure?"

"Any or all of the above," I said.

Harry sighed. "Who and why?" he asked. I didn't have to ask what who and why meant. I knew.

"Death Eater," I said simply. "Mission."

"Which Death Eater?" Harry asked. "You?" I shook my head. "Malfoy?" he asked. I shrugged. "Snape?" I shrugged again.

Harry ran his hand through his hair. Black waves fell in front of his eyes and, for a moment, he really did look like my father's son. "I wouldn't be _happy_," he said slowly, "but I would be free."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Everything I do is closely watched by him," he said. "It's why I made it so Ron didn't come with us to Hogsmeade when you introduced me to our mother and why he hasn't been a part of this at all. He's pretty much Dumbledore's lap dog at this point. He's what Dumbledore wanted me to be.

"Every time I skip a meal or class, or I don't get enough sleep or I've gotten into an argument with anyone, he's contacting me either later that day or early the next to tell me that it's not how I should behave and that I need to take better care of myself because I'm all I've got left at the end of the day. And lately he's been trying to get into my head and make me talk about the shit that I don't want to talk about. Then, when I haven't given him any answers, he'll spend _hours_ talking about the Dark Lord and why he is the way he is. The more I learn, the more I understand. The more I understand, the more he makes sense to me. Voldemort—" I glared "—the Dark Lord," he amended, "has been inside my head just like I've been inside his. He gave me back my mother," he said softly. "Not only would Dumbledore not be _able_ to do that, he'd never even consider doing it. He would rather I be an orphan than suddenly find I'm one of a family of four."

Granger reached for Harry's hand. He let her take it and she gently squeezed.

"Hermione and I talked earlier," he said softly. "About what you two said in the library. She was right," he said as he squeezed her hand and they turned to look at each other. They smiled and she kept her eyes on him as he looked back at me. "The decision really was made the moment you gave me back our mother," he said. "I'll join the Dark Lord if Hermione can come as well."

I smiled one of those rare genuine smiles that Draco was usually the only person that could coax one out. "Fantastic!" I happily cried as I jumped off the desk. "I'll inform the Dark Lord immediately. Tomorrow, if Dumbledore asks you to go somewhere with him, help him. Not _too _much, mind you, but don't let him doubt your loyalties," I said. "If he's tipped off, it could ruin everything. Draco's mission depends on Dumbledore being weak upon his return to Hogwarts."

"So Draco Malfoy is going to kill Dumbledore?" Granger asked.

I smirked. "I never said that."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

I sat in our room, at one of our desks, and studied my wand. A ten-inch Hawthorne with a chimera heart-string core. There was an intricate design of ivy along the handle that I liked to tell myself was poison ivy. The actual wand part of the wand had more of the ivy on it, going up almost half way. Once the ivy stopped, there was the occasional star carved in the wood. Poison ivy at night. Sounded right for me.

The wand had been my constant companion for ten years. My father had gotten it for me early so I could practice magic before coming to Hogwarts. Even with the extra practice, I wasn't anything remarkable. At least, not in the actual classroom. The only class I really ever excelled at was potions. I was the top in our year for that class. Of course, I think it's expected for the child to excel in the parent's class.

This wand and I had been through three murders, five torture sessions with the other Death Eaters, and a lot of Wizards Duels where I usually won. Like my father, my skill with a cauldron was matched only with my wand skills. There were a few curses I'd made up over the years, though none of mine were nearly as life threatening as my father's _Sectumsempra_.

I sighed and rolled up the sleeve of my black shirt and pressed my wand to the red Dark Mark on my skin. It turned green, signifying that the Dark Lord had been alerted to the fact that I needed to speak to him. I watched my arm while scratching an itch under a fishnet-covered leg. I slipped my wand in my boot, in the little pocket that ran just inside the shin next to my leg, and closed my eyes as that green turned black and seared like I was being branded with hot iron. I held my breath as the pain washed over me and, when I opened my eyes, I knew there was a smirk on my face.

I stood and fastened my cloak around my neck. Draco looked up from the homework he had splayed all over our bed and raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"Dark Lord," I said. "I have to tell him about Harry and Granger's decisions to become Death Eaters."

Draco nodded and noticed my outfit. "You're a bit dressed up for the Dark Lord, don't you think?" he asked.

I smiled. "Draco, you still have to pay for that stunt you pulled in the library," I said, holding the cloak open like some female Dracula, exposing a corset with dark green lacing and ribbons and a pleated and tattered skirt that Draco had always loved. "Now you get to spend the next few hours alone with a bit of a rising problem," I said, pointedly looking at his crotch. His eyes narrowed as I smiled. "Loves," I said before I left the room. I shut the door behind me and pressed my ear against it until I heard him groan and hit the books in front of him. I softly chuckled as I walked away.

* * *

I knelt when I entered the Dark Lord's chamber in Malfoy Manor. I saw bare feet under silk robes glide over a burgundy carpet and stop just in front of me. I looked up at the Dark Lord and he motioned for me to stand.

"Report," he said, his voice almost slithering across my body like his serpent counterpart.

"Harry Potter has agreed to join your cause on one condition, my Lord," I said. The Dark Lord turned to me. He didn't have to ask the question. "That his girlfriend be allowed to join your ranks as well."

"Who is this girlfriend?" the Dark Lord asked.

"The Muggleborn, my lord. Hermione Granger. She's probably the smartest student at Hogwarts."

"And does she wish to become one of my Death Eaters?"

"She has expressed the desire but does not know if she has the ability to serve," I said, choosing my words carefully. "She...feels she has not become comfortable enough with darkness to serve you to the fullest but she has said that she would fight for your cause."

"Why would this Muggleborn girl serve me?" the Dark Lord asked.

"Because Harry will," I said simply. "For Harry she would go to hell, spit in the Devil's eye, walk across a lake of fire, and die five ways from Sunday," I said simply. "For Harry, she will do _anything._"

"Anything?" he asked. I nodded. He seemed thoughtful for a moment. "Does she have potential?" he asked.

I chuckled. "She is more than _potentially _great, my Lord," I said. "Given a few small nudges in the right directions, she could be more cruel than Bellatrix, more deceptive than Lucius, and possibly even more inventive than my father."

If the Dark Lord had any hair on his head at all, his eyebrows would have raised. I've been close enough to see that his skin wasn't skin at all. I've seen the scales on the back of his hand and on his head. I doubted that was a single hair on his body at all. That thought, of course, led me to wonder if other things hadn't come back with him when his body had been returned but I brushed that thought away quickly. He glanced at me and I wondered if he knew what I'd thought.

"You compare this Mudblood girl to three of my best Death Eaters _and_ predict her surpassing them?" he asked. "How do you justify that? She uses stolen magic."

"My Lord, I am _certain_ that if you look deep enough into her family history, you _will_ find powerful witches and wizards on both sides. She is far too powerful, far too _skilled_, to have stolen her magic. Need I remind you that my own mother is Mudblood and you took pains to bring her back to us?" I asked.

"Your mother was no Mudblood," the Dark Lord informed me. "Her blood is pure."

This time my eyebrows were up. "Lily Snape?" I asked. "Pure blood?"

The Dark Lord nodded. "When she killed her parents, they produced wands and fought her," he said. "They acted Muggle because of the squib they produced. It was how Lily was able to practice her magic at home. Why her parents were so proud to have a witch in the family."

"Why did she kill them?" I asked.

"For the same reason I killed my Muggle father and his family," the Dark Lord said with a nonchalant shrug. "To kill the taint. Trim the family tree of unwanted and sickly limbs."

"But she didn't kill the sister," I said knowingly. Harry had been sent to live with the Muggles.

"If there is a possibility of good seeds from a rotten apple, do you throw the apple away?" he asked. "Or do you put the apple into the ground so that it will nurture and grow a brand new tree that will produce more apples?" he asked. "Your grandparents were beyond child-baring years. Your aunt was not. Though the boy, regretfully, is Muggle, he has the potential to produce magically inclined children or grandchildren simply by passing the genetics. Don't throw away the apple when you need the seed," the Dark Lord summarized. "Control it. Plant it. Harvest what you can from it. Those who refuse will be forced. Those who are of no further use will be destroyed. The fools blindly following Dumbledore, the Mudbloods who prove to have magic in their veins from an identifiable source, the squibs...they are all to be harvested. Put to use. Worth something."

"Granger won't be satisfied to be part of some breeding program," I said, understanding his train of thought. "She'll want to fight by Harry's side. Create new ways of death and destruction. She is not one for idle hands."

The Dark Lord nodded. "We will forge documentation if necessary," he said. "_If_ she proves to be the asset you proclaim her to be. Otherwise, I fear the only thing for her will be this...breeding program as you so adequately phrased it."

"He plans to marry her, my Lord," I said.

That stopped him. "Marriage?" he asked. "To this Mudblood?"

I nodded. "She has been one of his best friends since he was eleven," I said. "He adores her, I've seen the two of them together. Without her, you will be forced to kill him. _That, _I fear, will only be detrimental to you."

His red eyes narrowed on me. "How so?" he asked.

Confused, I simply stared at him for a moment too long. "_How?_" he demanded.

"He is a Horcrux of yours, my Lord," I said quickly. "Created that night in Godric's Hollow."

"How do _you _know this?"

"He knows every move you make," I said. "When he is extremely angry, his eyes even tinge red. There is no mistaking it. Even Dumbledore knows that there is some part of you inside of Harry."

"_What?_" the Dark Lord hissed angrily. "How soon before Draco completes his mission?" he demanded.

"With the help of my father and Harry, it could be as early as tomorrow night, my Lord," I said quickly, praying that I was not going to be cursed for being the messenger.

He stared at me for a moment. "Harry Potter will help kill Albus Dumbledore?" he asked, sounding stunned. I nodded. "And that girl? What does she know?"

"She knows as much as Harry, if not a little less."

"Should her assistance be, in any way, necessary, I want you to ensure she helps and I want you to inform me of her actions."

I nodded. "It will be done, my Lord," I said.

"Do not tell your father that you have told me what he has failed to," the Dark Lord ordered. "He will have one more chance to redeem himself. I shall know if you tip him off," he said. "And the answer to your thoughts is that I came back completely intact," he said, making me blush. He reached out and cupped my cheek in his hand. "You, I imagine, are a very passionate lover," he said. I was surprised by how _warm_ his hands were. It was enough to bring the blood in my body boiling to the surface. I let out a shuddering breath. "Someday, perhaps, you will even grace my sheets."

My first instinct was to glare, but I didn't. This was my Dark Lord after all. If he wanted me, I wouldn't say no. He was the _only_ person aside from Draco that I would allow myself to be so intimate with. His right as my Lord. My right as a woman.

He held a lock of my hair up to his flattened, snake-like nose and closed his eyes as he inhaled. Then, suddenly, he stepped away from me. "You are dismissed," he said.

I bowed, turned, and left, cursing myself for wearing this outfit and thinking those thoughts. As I walked to the front door, however, my thoughts turned to Draco and his mission and how the Dark Lord was happy to find that Harry and Granger were both willing to help. I wondered if they could really do it. I wondered if they had the guts to look their best friend in the eye and kill him.

Just as I neared the entry hall, Lucius stepped out in front of me. "Athena," he said in his deep velvety voice. I saw him pull out his wand, a flash of red, and then...nothing...

**AN: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I thought it was already posted and then realized it's just been sitting in the document manager for about a week. Forgive me! Oh...Review please! It makes me sad to see how few reviews this fic is getting.**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

I woke up in a blindingly bright room. The walls, floor, bedspread, and curtains were all pristine white. The bed frame had been painted a sort of eggshell color, from what I could see of it, anyway. The dress, if _this_ could be called a dress, I had been put into was so thin I could see the mole on my stomach, just above my navel. I could even see my own nipples through the fabric and suddenly wished I had my wand because I knew it was gone. Gone with a flash of red light. But who had cursed me?

I remembered meeting with the Dark Lord and I remembered leaving, but the light in the room was blinding me and the gnome in my skull digging into the bone was making it impossible to try to remember.

I wondered how far away from the bed I would be able to get. When I stood, I felt dizzy. I also realized that the "dress" didn't cover my ass and barely covered the front of me. As I walked I realized something else of high importance was missing: My underwear.

I raced to the door and tried to open it but the knob wouldn't turn. I slammed my fists against it, for some reason thinking that someone on the other side would help me if only they could hear me. I screamed a few times but there was nothing. Not even a pin drop.

I dropped to my knees, forehead pressed against the door, and willed myself not to cry. I was made of stronger stuff than this. I would _not_ cry.

After a moment, I pushed myself to my feet. The only thing in this white room was the bed. A brief, fleeting thought led me to wonder if this was, perhaps, the Dark Lord's bedroom but I could never see him surrounding himself in white. White was a color reserved for another Death Eater.

I stood and backed away from the door. He knew I was awake now, I knew it. He knew I was awake and he was coming for me. My heart started to race. I heard the stories but I never believed them. Seeing Lucius and Narcissa together, one would_ never_ think about Lucius' love of sadism. That was a love usually reserved for Bellatrix. Lucius' tastes, however, ran in a much more sexual nature and I knew I was about to see that nature first hand. Would I ever be able to look at Draco again?

The door creaked open and I wheeled away from it. He stepped in, glowing white hair, white robes, silver clasps and buttons. "Athena," he purred with a smirk. He looked like a cat who had just been handed a bowl of warm cream.

_Cat._ Lucius didn't know that I am an Animagus. I changed before he had the door closed and ran for it. He tried to snap it shut but I managed to get through. I made it down three unfamiliar hallways before I felt pulled back to that room. I knew I wouldn't have been able to get far enough.

I fought the pull and ran into an open room. To my luck, the room just so happened to have someone's wand in it. I reverted back to human form, grabbed the wand and pressed it to my Dark Mark. Death Eaters in distress turned the Mark silver. The Dark Lord would come to me because I couldn't fight the room any more. I dropped to my knees and found myself back in that room with Lucius waiting. When I felt my arm tingle, I knew my call was being answered. I also knew the Mark was red again.

Lucius grabbed a large chunk of hair at the back of my head and pulled me up to my feet. He met my eyes and smirked. "I love it when they have fire in them," he said softly before shoved his mouth against mine with bruising force. I tried to bite him but he ended up biting me instead. I tasted blood and centered my weight as I tried to knee him in the groin. Unfortunately for me, that only excited him more and he grabbed my knee, pulling it up to his waist. He pressed his body against mine and I realized that, under that robe with all of its silver clasps, there was nothing. I felt him press against me without anything between us. The robe had opened.

With a strength that I didn't know Lucius Malfoy possessed, he picked me up and tossed me aside like a rag doll. And, like a rag doll, I crumpled to the floor, spitting bright red blood into this pristine white room. He grabbed my ankle and dragged me into the center of the room. I'd cracked my head against the wall and couldn't put enough of a thought together to try to even kick him. I'd taken a lot of hard hits, many of them to the head, but this was from someone who _wasn't_ supposed to do this to me. Fathers. Husbands. Dark Lords. They were the people who abused you. Father-in-laws were supposed to be oblivious to this kind of thing. And even if they weren't, they weren't supposed to take part in it.

Lucius pushed my legs apart and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from crying or crying out. I covered my face with my hands and felt like a victim for the _first_ time. Even when Flint had done this to me, I hadn't felt like a victim because I knew I would kill him as soon as I could get my wand back. I couldn't kill Lucius any more than I could kill my own father.

And then his fingers, icy cold and rough, probed and prodded. I felt the sob rise in me and fought to keep it down. Death Eaters don't cry. Athena S. Malfoy _does not cry._

And then, without warning, I was on my stomach. He pulled my hips up and I tried to make myself believe that this was a nightmare, that I'd made it back to Hogwarts safely. That Lucius Malfoy wasn't actually raping me. That he wasn't letting himself spill into me. That the Dark Lord hadn't arrived too late because the charms around the room hadn't let him find me until Lucius was almost done.

He came into the room like a huge dark storm cloud ready to ruin your perfect picnic in the park. With a roar of rage, he flung Lucius away from me and proceeded to punish him with Cruciatus Curse. Over and over and over until Lucius Malfoy was nothing more than a rag doll slumped against the wall with foam slowly oozing from his mouth and blood coming from his left ear.

I tried not to whimper as the Dark Lord gathered me in his arms and carried me out of that white room. Tried not to cry when I realized that, while I had been pretending this hadn't been happening, Lucius had been putting more than his own body parts inside of me. Tried not to feel the glass cutting me in places glass should never be.

Tried not to sob like a child when the Dark Lord laid me down on a bed and removed the glass with magic and healed me better than Pomfrey ever could.

But when the Dark Lord gathered me in his arms again, cradled me against a chest with a beating heart, and softly whispered that it was okay to cry, I lost control and I sobbed in his arms, wishing that I had something to cover my body because he shouldn't have to see someone like me.

"And what about you do you think is unpleasant?" he whispered in my ear.

I didn't answer him. Couldn't answer him.

When I had calmed down, or rather, when I stopped breaking down with fresh sobs after a few seconds of calm, and could get dressed and had my wand in my hand again, the Dark Lord summoned my parents and Draco.

The minute Draco walked in and saw my tear-streaked face, the blood that was still on my legs because I hadn't seen it yet, and the swollen cheek and bloodied lip, he stared in a shock that quickly turned to rage. He looked from me with my head resting on the Dark Lord's lap, to his hand curled in my hair, softly petting me, and then up into the face of our master, his voice was clear, cut with a calm that bordered on a thousand deadly things. "Who did this?" he asked.

My father put a hand on Draco's shoulder. "You can't do anything now," he said in a low voice.

"The hell I can't!" Draco shouted, pushing my father away. He pointed to me. "That is your _daughter,_ Snape!" he shouted.

My father looked first to me, then to the Dark Lord. "Did you kill him, my Lord?" he asked.

The Dark Lord shook his head. "Nearly but no," he said as he pulled his fingers away from my hair and let the long, loose, black strands fall back down.

Draco, eyes on me, spoke to the Dark Lord next. "I want to know who did this," he said. "Who _dared_ do this. I told her that if this ever happened again, I'd kill the guy who dared do it."

"Again?" three voices asked as six eyes switched between two young adults.

"Athena?" my father asked.

My only response was a long, slow blink. The only indication that I had heard anything.

That was when the Dark Lord stood, gently lowering my head to the seat of the sofa. I rolled onto my back and flinched when I saw white walls. I rolled back onto my side and hid my face with my hair.

The Dark Lord brought Lucius out with a flick of his wand. They gasped.

Draco stared at his father for what seemed like years before he walked up to the man and hit him hard enough that Lucius spun in circles because he was floating in the air. Draco hit him four or five more times before my father grabbed his arms and held him back.

"LET ME GO!" Draco bellowed. "I'LL FUCKING KILL HIM I SWEAR TO SALAZAR I'LL FUCKING KILL THE BASTARD!"

"No, Draco," the Dark Lord said in a voice as smooth as silk. "No, death is far too simple for his crime. He must be punished. Made an example of. He must show the others what a traitor looks like."

"Traitor?" my father asked.

The Dark Lord nodded. "Traitor," he said. "One of Dumbledore's fools. Dumbledore, it would seem, knows far too much about what goes on inside our walls," he said. "For instance, it would seem that he knows about a certain plot on his life... certain objects of great worth," the Dark Lord added with a pointed look at my father.

"I never told him, my Lord," Severus replied. "Not once . He has gotten close to discovering the truth of them but he has not yet discovered their true secrets. He knows only that the objects in his possession had great importance to you, but he does not know why or what they house."

"What objects does he have, Severus?" the Dark Lord asked.

"The diary, which was ruined five years ago because of Lucius. Your family ring, which Dumbledore pulled the stone from because he thought he recognized it as something else. The last he has but is soon to lose is Harry."

"Harry?" Lily demanded, turning to stare at my father, her husband. "Our son is a Horcrux?"

The Dark Lord's sharp red eyes found my mother. "He was supposed to be _Potter's_ son," he said.

My mother sighed. "Forgive me, my lord," she said. "I missed my husband and had not intended the child to be his," she said bitterly, as though still burning with an anger from ages passed.

The Dark Lord glared but dismissed it easily. He had gotten what he wanted. The paternity didn't matter _that _much...did it?

Draco turned to the Dark Lord. "I want to be the one who kills him," he said in a dangerous voice. "It's my wife he violated."

The Dark Lord nodded. "You will be the one to kill him," he said. "If you kill Dumbledore tonight."

"The plan is already in motion, my Lord," Draco said, bordering on the edge of reason and rage.

**AN: Don't forget that review! ^_^**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

My father had to leave, to discuss things with Dumbledore and try to salvage what he could of the plan to kill him. With the news that Lucius had actually been working against the Dark Lord, we all knew that he wouldn't be given another chance. His failure at the Ministry of Magic suddenly made sense.

Narcissa couldn't believe what he had done, even after seeing my blood and bruises, even after the Dark Lord had forced him to talk... She wanted to kill him too. The Dark Lord didn't believe her. He knew how much Lucius and Narcissa loved each other. He knew that Lucius would have told her that if something should happen to him she should try to save herself. The Dark Lord made her talk...she had turned against him too...

Draco, enraged and devastated, finally took me from the room. He wrapped my cloak securely around me and guided me away from his traitorous parents and my unwaveringly loyal mother. I leaned against him as we walked, my head on his shoulder. I still hadn't said a word.

Draco healed the injuries the Dark Lord hadn't and washed the blood from my face. He sat me on the counter to wash the blood from my legs, moving gently.

I rest against the large mirror behind me me and closed my eyes. Tears burned and fell and I even heard Draco sniffle. I opened my eyes to see him angrily brush away his own tears. When he finished, he put the washcloth in the sink next to us and pulled me off of the counter, carrying me in his arms like a child.

The night was becoming far too long.

When Draco sat down on the bed, he held me even more tightly. I finally responded and wrapped my arms around his neck. I started sobbing again, my entire body shaking with the force of it. I realized that, more than I wanted Lucius dead, I wanted to know why. If he was supposed to be one of the "good guys", how could he do something like this to me? The good guys didn't rape the bad guys.

"Why?" I heard myself whisper.

Draco's shoulders shook as he held me more tightly. "I don't know," he answered with a shaking voice. "But I will kill him for it," he vowed.

"You have to kill Dumbledore first," I whispered.

Draco nodded, his chin against my shoulder. "I will tonight," he said. "You should probably stay here."

I shook my head. "Not a chance," I whispered. "I'm itching for blood that isn't mine..."

Draco held me tighter. "Merlin, what did he do to you..." he whispered.

I buried my face in the crook of his neck. "Glass," I whispered. "Broken glass...and..."

"And?" He choked on the word like it broke something inside of him. It broke something inside of me too.

I couldn't say the word. My silence seemed to be enough because he softly swore and held me more securely. "You need a potion then," he said softly. "To make sure..."

To make sure there would be no baby. The words were impossible to say. The thought was almost impossible to think. I nodded and started crying again. There was a knock and I heard the door open.

"How is she?" the voice of my mother asked.

Draco cleared his throat. "How do you think she is?" he asked.

I heard my mother sigh. "Did he..." there was a break in her voice too. "...Did he really..."

Draco nodded and my mother swore. A moment later, I felt her hand on the back of my head, softly petting. She kissed the top of my head.

"You said this happened before..." she said softly.

Draco nodded. "I found out about it the night you told us that we were married," he said softly. "He was a seventh year so when she...when he disappeared, no one really questioned it. We all figured he just left but..."

"She killed him?" my mother asked. I nodded and she kissed the top of my head again. "Good job," she whispered.

An hour later, I sat down on cold tiles with the shower running over me. Scrubbed raw and almost to the point of bleeding, I buried my face in my knees, the water pouring over my back with enough force to make it almost hard to breathe. The steam rose up around me, water dripped down my face...I'd washed my body four times since stepping into the shower and I still felt dirty. Still felt violated. Still felt like a victim.

I finally forced myself to get out of the shower. I turned off the water, wrapped a towel around my body and stood in front of the mirror. There was a scar on the edge of my lip, almost invisible to the people who would never know it's there but it stood out to me. Stood out like a sore thumb. I hung my head and saw my wand. I reached for it and sat down on the edge of the counter. I slowly drew my wand across the top of my arm, watching as the cut formed where I traced it. I closed my eyes, feeling the sharp sting as the blood started to bead up. I did it again as the pain faded. With each cut I made, I began to feel like myself again. I traced patterns and lines and nearly covered my entire left arm, leaving the Dark Mark and its area completely unmarred.

I looked at my blotchy, swollen, red arm for a few minutes, brushing away blood here and there as it beaded up. I had a sleeve of cuts from shoulder to wrist and relished in the pain they caused me. I rest my head against the mirror and closed my eyes. With a sigh, I put my wand down and reached for the goblet someone had brought in. That goblet would contain a potion that made sure I wasn't going to have Lucius' second child. Scourgifying myself was a start but I wouldn't be satisfied until I drank every last drop of this potion. It wasn't the first time I'd used it.

I gulped the bitter potion down and set the goblet aside before I finally made myself get dressed. When I walked back into the bedroom, Draco looked up. His eyes narrowed on my arm and he crossed the room. He gently took my arm in his hand and ran his hand over the cuts. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and kissed my forehead.

"Draco..." I softly began.

"Yes?" he asked, his voice hoarse but deep and comforting. He cleared his throat.

"Tell me that you love me," I whispered. "That this will never happen again... That I don't have to be afraid..."

He loosened his hold on me and held my face in his hands. "Every day if I have to," he said. "Five or six times if it will make you believe me," he added. "I love you with everything that I am. I will not let this happen again. You do not have to live in fear."

The intensity of his eyes, the surety of his voice, the way he held me...they made me believe the words. I nodded. "Then I think it's time to go back to Hogwarts," I said. "Time to kill."

Draco smirked. "Potter's with us?"

I nodded. "As soon as I tell him that the Dark Lord will take Granger into his service as well," I said.

Draco nodded and kissed my forehead. "Then I guess we should get back to Hogwarts and tell them," he said.

He started to step back but I reached for his hand and stopped him. "How much time do we have?" I asked. He gave me a confused look before he looked at his watch. "If all goes according to plan, Dumbledore and Potter shouldn't leave until after dinner, so we have about sixteen hours, why?" he asked.

I sighed. "I need you," I nearly whispered.

He seemed stunned for a moment. _I need you,_ for us, basically meant _let's shag_. It meant more than that, true, but at its most basic...the need was physical. Right now, I needed to know that he could still love me even after what his father had done to me. I needed to know that I could still love him.

I expected him to question it. To ask me if I was sure that I really wanted that. But his face changed from shock to understanding and he pulled me close. We kissed and I remembered how playful he had been in the library and how I had teased him before I left the school. The teasing was gone as he unzipped the corset let it fall to the floor. Seriousness reigned as I pulled his shirt up over his head. Passion as his pants and my skirt followed. Love when he gently eased himself inside of me. Being with him was like coming home after being away for far too long. He made me feel safe. Made me feel loved. Made me feel like there was nothing to be afraid of.

**AN: Next up...Dumbledore's Death! Now review please! ^_^**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Granger, Draco, my father, and I waited on the stairway of the Astronomy Tower for Dumbledore and Harry to get back. When they returned, Harry came running down the stairs. He nodded to Draco and Draco sent a curse to the wall. Harry, not expecting it, cried out on cue. I held my finger up to my mouth to signal him to be quiet. He nodded and Draco slowly began to creep up the steps. He turned the corner sharply, wand pointed. "_EXPELLIARMUS!_" he shouted. The rest of us started up the stairs.

"Y-you?" Dumbledore wheezed as we walked around the corner. His eyes took in all of us and widened with Harry and Granger, standing with us on their own free will. "Help me, Harry," Dumbledore begged. Harry shook his head. "Miss Granger?" She shook her head. The old headmaster looked to my father. "Severus?" he asked. He didn't even glance at me.

The four of us pulled out our wands and pointed them at the crumpled old man as he dropped to his knees. Wide-eyed, Dumbledore waited.

"Do it, Draco," my father said. "Now."

"By the way, Sir," Harry said. "My mother's alive."

Dumbledore stared at Harry in shock.

"_Avada Kedavra,_" Draco said. Dumbledore was enveloped by an eerie green light. With the shock still on his face, he sagged to the floor, dead.

I smiled as I grabbed Draco and kissed him. "Now you can kill your father for what he did to me," I said breathlessly.

Draco nodded. "You're damn right I can," he said, grabbing my hand. "Come on," he said as we made our way down the stairs. Harry and Granger followed with my father right behind them. We fought our way through the students and teachers who had gotten out of bed to investigate. Dark Marks appearing above Astronomy Towers apparently alerts professors. Most of them were shocked to see Harry and Granger fighting with us. When we ran out of the castle, a shout rang through the air. One voice. One word.

"TRAITORS!"

The speaker was Weasley and someone held him back as we ran for the shack. I transformed and beat them there, immobilizing the tree with a claw in time for my father to go through first. Draco stood at the hole and ushered Harry and Granger through before he followed. I let go of the knot and dashed in as someone shot a curse at the tree, nearly hitting me.

Later, it would seem too easy. Now, it just felt like we were lucky. Panting in the main room of the shack, the five of us regained our breath. That was when Granger started crying and I realized Harry was staring in front of himself as though looking at Dumbledore's body.

I walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You did good, little brother," I said. He gave me a smile. "It's been a while since someone died right in front of me," he said.

I nodded and hugged him. "It gets easier," I promised. He chuckled as he hugged me back and sighed heavily. "Maybe," he said.

I looked to Granger as I let him go. "Come talk to me," I said, motioning to the other side of the room. I could feel Draco and my father watching me closely. I wasn't even twenty hours out of an extreme situation and I was acting like my normal self. They knew I shouldn't be, that was why they watched me.

When I felt like we wouldn't be heard, I stopped and turned to Granger. "You okay?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I've never actually seen someone die before," she said in a low voice. "I was always afraid it was going to be Harry, but I never thought it would be Dumbledore... And...when I just stood there and watched...do you know what I was thinking?" she asked, meeting my eyes. I shook my head. "I was thinking that the bastard who had ruined Harry's life was finally going to be brought to some sort of justice," she said softly. "The person who took him away from his family, the one who put this _huge_ burden on his shoulders, the one who...controlled and manipulated and molded him into what he was turning into before you came along is finally dead." Her gaze was unwavering. "You saved the man I love," she said. "By giving him another option. Athena...I don't know how to thank you for that."

I smirked. "You don't have to," I said. "He's my younger brother after all. As the big sister, it's kind of my job to look after him."

She chuckled. "It is, isn't it?" she asked.

"Better?" I asked. She nodded. "Good," I said. "Let's go."

We walked back to the men. Draco draped an arm around my shoulders and I wrapped mine around my waist. "So who's taking who?" I asked.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked.

"My place," Draco supplied. "The Dark Lord is waiting for the five of us and as soon as we get there I get to have my reward."

"What's your reward?" Harry asked.

Draco squeezed my shoulders. "My father's life," he said. "I get to kill him."

"That's a reward?" Granger asked. "I thought your father was a Death Eater."

Draco shook his head. "Apparently he wasn't loyal and after what he did yesterday, I want his life."

"What happened yesterday?" Harry asked.

I shrugged Draco's arm away and hugged myself as I stepped back, hiding myself with my hair. I noticed how Harry watched me closely and then looked at Draco, silently asking for answers. Whatever look Draco gave him seemed to tell him because, through the curtain of my hair, I saw Harry's eyes widen.

"I want in on that," Harry said.

Draco smirked. "I think we can figure something out," he said. He looked to my father. "You take Potter and I'll take Granger?" he asked. "Or the other way around?"

"I can take Granger," I said, pushing my hair back.

Draco shook his head. "You're upset," he said. "It's dangerous to Apparate alone, let alone with someone else when you're upset."

I glared at him. "I'm fine," I said. "I can take her."

The five of us arrived in front of Malfoy Manor and began walking up the hedged path to the doors. The white peacock running along the hedge drew Harry and Granger's gazes. When Lucius died, I wanted to slaughter each of the bloody birds.

We led Harry and Granger to the deepest part of the mansion. In the room, dozens of Death Eaters stood, waiting for us to emerge victorious. Most of them were shocked that we brought Harry Potter back with us. Some were appalled by Granger, at least, those who knew who she was.

They parted as we walked through them. Reaching the front, my mother walked up to us, smiling. She hugged Draco and kissed my cheek. She kissed my father. She turned to Harry and Granger and smiled at them before pulling them both in her arms. She kissed Harry's forehead

Draco, my father, and I knelt in front of the Dark Lord. He smiled. "Rise," he said. "I trust you were successful?" he asked.

Draco held out Dumbledore's gnarled wand. "Very," he said, bowing as he handed it over to the Dark Lord.

"The Elder Wand," the Dark Lord whispered, smiling as he caressed the wand. He put the wand in his robes and looked at Harry and Granger. "You come to join me?" he asked. They nodded. "Then step forward," the Dark Lord said. He turned to each of his Death Eaters. "Witness a victory!" he said triumphantly. "Harry Potter. You thought he couldn't be beaten. Thought he couldn't be turned. He stands here! Ready to receive my Mark." The Dark Lord touched his wand to the scar on my brother's forehead. Lightly traced it. "You have always been mine, Harry," he said softly. "Through this mark we share more than a simple history. But you already know this, don't you, Harry?" he asked. Harry nodded. "Hold out your arm."

Harry pulled up the sleeve of his left arm and held it out to the Dark Lord, underside up. The Dark Lord pressed his wand to the flesh of my brother's arm and the Mark was burned. Harry hissed and clenched his fist, but made no other sound and didn't try to pull his arm away. When the Mark faded from black to red, he stared at his arm in wonder.

"Hermione Granger," the Dark Lord said. He turned to me. "Has she earned it?" he asked. I nodded. He smirked and turned back to Harry's girlfriend. "Do you want it?" he asked. Granger nodded. "Give me your arm."

Granger held out her arm, pulling up the sleeve of her shirt as she moved. The Dark Lord pressed his wand to her arm and I saw her eyes tear. The look on her face was one I knew well. It was the look of someone biting their cheek to keep from crying out. She didn't utter a single sound.

The Dark Lord let her arm go and looked at her for a moment before he gestured for the two of them to join the rest of us. "Now," the Dark Lord said. "Look around you and see who Harry and Hermione have replaced," he said. People looked around, confused. Bellatrix was the one who realized her sister and brother-in-law were absent for their son's triumphant return.

"Where are Cissy and Lucius?" she asked.

"Very good, Bella," the Dark Lord said. "Lucius Malfoy has been a disappointment to me for some time now. Narcissa has always been a step behind him, matching his footsteps almost perfectly. Yesterday, Lucius crossed a line he cannot uncross," the Dark Lord said, waving his wand. Lucius' unconscious body floated into the room. Bellatrix gasped. "He has raped a fellow Death Eater," the Dark Lord said as he slowly began to walk around Lucius' form. Draco's hand tightened around mine and Harry and Hermione looked at me. "He has informed Dumbledore of some of our greatest secrets," he continued. Bellatrix's eyes flashed with rage as she eyed her brother. "Who will be the first to punish him?"

"I will," my father said, stepping forward. The Dark Lord nodded. And stepped aside, enervating Lucius. As he looked around the room, his eyes showed fear. When his eyes found my father, standing with his wand pointed, Lucius' eyes widened with terror.

I don't know what spell my father cast on Lucius but it made him begin to scream in terror without contorting in pain. This attack was mental. I wondered if it was something he had created.

He quickly took of the spell and I knew why. Any longer and Lucius' mind would have snapped. There would have been no point.

"Who is next?" the Dark Lord asked.

Harry looked at me, then to the Dark Lord. "Me," he said. The Dark Lord tilted his head to the side and stared for a moment, as if he couldn't believe I had truly converted him. He motioned to Lucius and raised his wand. Lucius laughed at him. "What can you do to me?" he asked.

Harry smirked. "Ask your son that question," Harry asked before he cast a curse I actually didn't know. Lucius began choking on something. As his face turned purple with the effort and lack of oxygen, blood poured from his mouth. As he strangled, he soiled himself. It was only then that Harry took off whatever he was doing, leaving Lucius to his shame.

I smiled. It was beautiful.

The Dark Lord looked at Hermione. "Are you willing?" he asked.

Hermione nodded and pointed her wand at Lucius. "_Crucio_," she said softly. Lucius screamed as I had never heard him scream before. Body ridged and writhing, head thrown back... It was the sound my heart and soul had made when he had attacked me.

And then..._silence. _Lucius' head fell forward. He wheezed but did not speak. Unconsciously, a tear fell from his eyes and landed on the floor. Hermione took the spell off and lowered her wand. Draco looked to the Dark Lord. "Does anyone else wish to punish Lucius for his crimes?" the Dark Lord asked. After Hermione's demonstration, no one moved. The Dark Lord looked at Draco and nodded. Draco stepped forward and revived his father. Draco pointed his wand between Lucius' eyes. "_Avada Kedavra,_" Draco said for the second time tonight. The room flashed green and Lucius' body crumpled to the floor.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

It was clear that we weren't going back to Hogwarts. It was clear that our place in the war no longer lay within the walls of a school we had fled from, but in the world. Draco, now Lord Malfoy, had just inherited everything from the businesses scattering the globe to the properties on four continents.

Harry, Hermione, Draco, and I gathered in the study in our part of the mansion. Draco didn't feel like moving into the suite upstairs yet, so we stayed in the wing we had spent most of our childhood in. Harry and Hermione, brand new to the house, the Cause, and the life, sat with us. I knew what Harry wanted to talk about. I knew he wanted to know just what had happened. Hell, Draco still wanted to know.

I wasn't going to volunteer the information. Not easily.

"Are traitors usually dealt with that way?" Hermione asked.

"My mother was the average case," Draco said. "She wasn't even a Death Eater, but she's done everything _except_ get the Mark so the Dark Lord treated her like one. There's a lot of Cruciatus from a lot of people and, if the person being punished vows to return to the Dark Lord, they are punished one last time for their transgression and allowed to live, but they have to be sincere about it."

I brushed some of Draco's hair back. "Which is how Draco and our father are still alive," I said, looking at Harry. Draco slowly nodded and they looked at him.

"You switched sides?" Hermione asked.

Draco nodded. "I did," he said. "Spent a grand total of three months fighting for the good guys and not doing a bloody thing. I wasn't the spy so I didn't make reports about what was going on. The most I ever got to do was tell Snape what was going on and even that I only seldom did."

I smirked. "That's because you liked me too much to tell my father what I was doing," I said.

Draco chuckled and met my eyes. His hand on my knee squeezed a little and relaxed. "I'd say that's part of it," he said.

"Why did you turn?" I asked. He and I hadn't talked about it.

Draco sighed. "Do you remember when we were kids and I would start screaming about things I saw that no one else did?" he asked. I nodded. I remembered. It had be a _long_ time since any of that had happened. "It never stopped," he said, surprising me. "I still see things all of the time."

"You mean like visions?" Hermione asked.

Draco glanced at her and nodded. "Yes," he said. "It's like a dream," he said. "You don't really see anything but you do. It's hard to explain and it usually only happens in the middle of the night. Lately they've been mostly dreams but I know the difference between my dreams and my visions, for lack of a better term."

"Okay," I said slowly. "Now two questions," I said. "The first: What did you see that turned you? Second: Why the hell didn't you ever tell me you were still seeing things?" I demanded. "You used to tell me about them all of the time when we were kids!"

Draco sighed. "Answer to question number one: I saw you being murdered," he said. "By me."

"What?" I demanded.

"I stopped that one from happening two ways: One, switched sides. Two: Remember the hallway," he said.

I blushed, remembering the hallway. "How did that prevent you murdering me?" I asked.

"Before that day, Athena, I didn't know you'd ever let me touch you," he said. "Before that day, I was starting to hate everything about you because you were what I could not have. After that night, everything flipped.

"Answer to second question: I didn't want you to think I was a freak so I stopped telling _everyone_ about them. It wasn't just you."

I nodded and scooted closer to him on the loveseat we were on. He pulled my legs up over his lap and I lay against the far arm. "You should have said something," I said as he took my boots off of my feet and set them on the floor beside him. Fishnet-covered legs were exposed and I saw Hermione's eyebrows come together in curiosity and confusion. I pointedly looked at her and she smiled. "I don't like socks," I said. "I think they're boring."

She slowly nodded. "Okay then," she said.

"Besides," Draco added, "the fishnets are sexy," he said, his hand sliding up my thigh on the side of me facing the back of the couch.

I slapped Draco's hand away. "Brother!" I cried, pointing to Harry.

Draco stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. "You hardly know each other," he protested.

"You keep your hand out of my skirt with him or my parents in the room," I said, not moving my eyes away from his.

He sighed. "You're no fun," he said with a pout.

Harry and Hermione stared at us. "You'd actually do something like that in front of other people?" he asked.

Draco and I laughed. "You've never been in the Slytherin common room on a long weekend have you?" I asked. They shook their heads. "There are at least four couples having sex in the common room," I said. "Two or three more on their way there. There are times when you have a small group of people, one or two couples, and someone like Draco," I said, giving him a bit of a push, "get's horny and starts playing with the partners goodies. _We_ haven't done it," I said. "But Draco and Pansy did a couple of times."

He smirked. "Fun times," he said bitterly. "Merlin, I hate that girl."

"You were with her for two years," I muttered.

Draco met my eyes. "And technically, my love, you and I have been together for nearly eighteen," he said.

"What?" Hermione asked.

I sighed. "We didn't get married a few weeks ago," I said, "like everyone believes. We were actually married when Draco was only two weeks old. Dark Lord's request. He wanted to combine the families of his greatest Death Eaters."

"Really?" Harry asked. "He can do that?"

"He can do whatever he wants," I said in the Dark Lord's defense. "He's the Dark Lord. You don't deny your leader something, especially not him. I'd give my life for him after what he did for me yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Harry asked.

"Lucius," I said simply. "That was yesterday." My brother's eyebrows rose and they both stared at me in shock. "He came in and almost killed Lucius for what he was doing to me. Once he was finished throwing Lucius around a bit, he carried me out of there, healed the worst of my injuries, and then summoned Draco and our parents."

"I wanted to kill him right there," Draco said, a hand squeezing around my ankle briefly. "The Dark Lord said no. Told me to finish my mission first."

"Then why did the Dark Lord kill your mother too?" Hermione asked.

"Because Narcissa Malfoy is loyal to _one_ person and _one_ person only," Draco said. "And that's Lucius Malfoy. Granted when she found out what he did yesterday she was rather angry with him, but that didn't stop her for following his orders to the letter."

"What orders?" Harry asked.

"To save herself at any cost," I said softly. "Lucius didn't count on being discovered," I said. "He didn't think that she would ever be found out either. He also didn't think the Dark Lord would treat Narcissa like a Death Eater."

"This also wasn't the first time my father had been caught doing something with a young woman. In the past two years there have been eight or nine. Since Azkaban, he's gotten worse."

"Wow," Harry said softly.

Draco's hand started creeping up my thigh again, discretely this time so Harry and Hermione didn't notice.

"So are meetings usually like that?" Hermione asked.

"Usually they're dull," Draco said, testing me further by slowly moving his hand to the inside of my thigh and further up. He was inches away from where he wanted his hand to be.

"Usually we're not there," I said. "Or at least we weren't. It's rather difficult to summon students to every meeting and not raise suspicions." Draco's hand made it all of the way up my legs. "Draco," I said warningly.

He gave me an innocent look as he maneuvered his hand to slide a finger home. I bit my lip to keep myself from reacting. I felt my face flush as he moved his finger and glared at him.

"Should we go?" Hermione asked.

Draco smirked at her. "The more the merrier," he said. "Have at or come join."

I noticed the two of them blush. "He's my brother, Draco," I growled, even though I couldn't stop myself from moving with his hand. "You're not being a very good host."

Draco smirked. "You and your father have lived in this house for ten years, your mother lives here... Your brother and his girlfriend are not guests, Dear," he said. "They're family."

"And you're doing—" a gasp cut me off as Draco's fingers found the right spots.

Draco chuckled. "I don't see you fighting very hard," he said softly with his ever-present smirk.

I grabbed him through his pants, causing him to gasp and swear. "Why don't we take this to the bedroom, _Dear?_" I asked through clenched teeth.

"Sure," Draco said breathlessly. "Bedroom sounds fantastic." He looked over to Harry and Hermione. "Go through the door on the left," he said. "There are three rooms down that hall. Pick any."

**AN: Sorry it's been so long since the last update. I wanted to do more before I posted this chapter but it just hasn't been happening. For some reason I've come to a bit of a hiccup and the story has hit the back burner to simmer for a while. In the original version of this (the one where the good guys win) the story was reaching its peak because the chapters were much shorter so there were more of them. I'm still trying to figure out how to swing this the other way and make it brilliant. I'm open to hearing some ideas if you guys have any!**


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